Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

On the title

Contents

• "Science Fiction" - Vonnegut's reflections on writing science fiction.
• "Brief Encounters on the Inland Waterway" - This recounts a journey from Massachusetts to Florida on the Kennedy yacht crewing for their captain, Frank Wirtanen.
• "Hello, Star Vega" - about the book Intelligent Life In The Universe by I.S. Shklovskii and Carl Sagan.
• "Teaching the Unteachable"
• "Yes, We Have No Nirvanas" - an essay about the rise of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in American culture.
• "Fortitude" - The only work of fiction in the book.
• "There's a Maniac Loose Out There" - An essay for Life Magazine about convicted serial killer Tony Costa.
• "Excelsior! We're Going to the Moon! Excelsior!"
• "Address to the American Physical Society"
• "Good Missiles, Good Manners, Good Night"
• "Why They Read Hesse" - as in Hermann Hesse.
• "Oversexed in Indianapolis" - Vonnegut's appraisal of Dan Wakefield's Going All the Way.
• "The Mysterious Madame Blavatsky"
• "Biafra: A People Betrayed" - Vonnegut writes about his experiences in Biafra shortly before the country fell to Nigerian forces.
• "Address to Graduating Class at Bennington College, 1970"
• "Torture and Blubber"
• "Address to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1971"
• "Reflections on My Own Death"
• "In a Manner that Must Shame God Himself" - Comments on the nature of the U.S.'s two-party system.
• "Thinking Unthinkable, Speaking Unspeakable"
• "Address at Rededication of Wheaton College Library, 1973"
• "Invite Rita Rait to America!"
• "Address to P.E.N. Conference in Stockholm, 1973"
• "A Political Disease"
• "Playboy Interview"

Vonnegut's style