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The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic

de Ginger Strand

Membres	Ressenyes	Popularitat	Valoració mitjana	Mencions
109	4	250,448	(4.3)	4
"Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut In the mid-1950s, Kurt Vonnegut takes a job in the PR department at General Electric in Schenectady, where his older brother, Bernard, is a leading scientist in its research lab--or "House of Magic." Kurt has ambitions as a novelist, and Bernard is working on a series of cutting-edge weather-control experiments meant to make deserts bloom and farmers flourish. While Kurt writes zippy press releases, Bernard builds silver-iodide generators and attacks clouds with dry ice. His experiments attract the attention of the government; weather proved a decisive factor in World War II, and if the military can control the clouds, fog, and snow, they can fly more bombing missions. Maybe weather will even be--as a headline in American Magazine calls it--"The New Super Weapon." But when the army takes charge of his cloudseeding project (dubbed Project Cirrus), Bernard begins to have misgivings about the use of his inventions for harm, not to mention the evidence that they are causing alarming changes in the atmosphere. In a fascinating cultural history, Ginger Strand chronicles the intersection of these brothers' lives at a time when the possibilities of science seemed infinite. As the Cold War looms, Bernard's struggle for integrity plays out in Kurt's evolving writing style. The Brothers Vonnegut reveals how science's ability to influence the natural world also influenced one of our most inventive novelists"-- "Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut"--… (més)

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This dual biography of the great writer Kurt Vonnegut and his lesser known brother Bernard tells the story of two very different, but at the same time similar, brothers. While Kurt was a man of letters and Bernie was a man of chemicals, both worked for the corporate behemoth General Electric. Kurt despised the corporate world but did what he had to do to nurse his writing career along while supporting a growing family. Bernie was lost in the clouds, literally trying to prove the theory that water vapor could be created in clouds with the use of chemicals, specifically silver iodide. Both men grew weary of GE as the company became less paternalistic and more conservative and demanding of its scientists and other workers. The book gives the reader a clear idea of how difficult it was for Kurt to make it as a revered writer. He could have filled a file cabinet with his rejections. I’ve always admired Vonnegut, a fellow Hoosier, and this book helped understand and appreciate him better. He was a true national treasure. (

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FormerEnglishTeacher | Sep 2, 2022 |

Author Kurt Vonnegut was deeply influenced throughout his life choices and within the pages of his books by his older brother Bernard. This dual biography touches briefly on their upbringing and then explores the years that the two brothers spent working together (but separately) at GE. Bernard filled his days researching the weather and how to change it as Kurt plugged away in the PR department while gathering fodder for his short stories and novels. The daily influence of science in Kurt's life lead him into writing science fiction.

This book is fascinating and I learned a great deal. Strand is a more than competent writer and appears to have done reams of research. The book reads easily and fairly quickly, despite being rather dense with facts and scientific knowledge. In fact, while the book is technically a biography of sorts, it's more in line with titles like Hidden Figures or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in that there's a great deal of history and context being explored as well.

In keeping with the book's focus, each title is named after some type of weather pattern. The book more or less ends with the conclusion of the Vonnegut brothers' time at GE, although Strand does provide some quick details about the ends of their respective lives. I highly recommend this book for Vonnegut fans to get a better understanding of his works. However, I also recommend for readers who enjoy history and/or science, regardless of their feelings about Vonnegut. (

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sweetiegherkin | Oct 10, 2018 |

Very interesting read about Kurt and Bernard Vonnegut, though at times a bit scattered. There is a lot about the weather experimentation, and documentation that really underscores the attempt to weaponize everything by the governments in the twentieth century. Scary stuff. Most happened so long ago that things can not still be classified, yet the facts are disturbing.

The book starts with a very sensationalist sentence, and it turned me off immediately. It got much better after that. Worth reading for people interested in Kurt Vonnegut, weather manipulation and weather science.

Bernard and Kurt were against war, and against using science to develop more ways to destroy life.
I really liked this book.
(

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Critterbee | Apr 16, 2018 |

Strand (Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate) beautifully illustrates the juxtaposition of the Vonnegut brothers, Bernard and Kurt in this compelling narrative of their lives and contributions in their respective fields. During WWII while Kurt was hunkered down beneath a slaughterhouse surviving the firebombing of Dresden (later a basis for his bestselling novel, Slaughterhouse Five), his brother Bernard, a scientist, was flying in the air testing out cloud seeding and producing rain. The brothers led vastly different lives, but shared the similar experience of both working for GE (General Electric), which back then was lovingly referred to as the "house of magic." While there, Bernard studied the sky and experimented with weather control and Kurt reveled in all the fantastic things he saw and heard, many of which become the basis for his later novels and short stories. What happens when science is no longer used for good, but for evil; are scientists compelled to be moral or just make progress for progress's sake, regardless of the consequences? Strand breaks down Bernard's science and Kurt's stories and it produces a fascinating look at two different, yet very similar, brothers. Compellingly narrated by Sean Runnette, this eye opening read is perfect for both fans of science and Kurt Vonnegut. A must read. (

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ecataldi | Nov 22, 2015 |

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The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic

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Kurt Vonnegut

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Schenectady, New York, USA

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"Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut In the mid-1950s, Kurt Vonnegut takes a job in the PR department at General Electric in Schenectady, where his older brother, Bernard, is a leading scientist in its research lab--or "House of Magic." Kurt has ambitions as a novelist, and Bernard is working on a series of cutting-edge weather-control experiments meant to make deserts bloom and farmers flourish. While Kurt writes zippy press releases, Bernard builds silver-iodide generators and attacks clouds with dry ice. His experiments attract the attention of the government; weather proved a decisive factor in World War II, and if the military can control the clouds, fog, and snow, they can fly more bombing missions. Maybe weather will even be--as a headline in American Magazine calls it--"The New Super Weapon." But when the army takes charge of his cloudseeding project (dubbed Project Cirrus), Bernard begins to have misgivings about the use of his inventions for harm, not to mention the evidence that they are causing alarming changes in the atmosphere. In a fascinating cultural history, Ginger Strand chronicles the intersection of these brothers' lives at a time when the possibilities of science seemed infinite. As the Cold War looms, Bernard's struggle for integrity plays out in Kurt's evolving writing style. The Brothers Vonnegut reveals how science's ability to influence the natural world also influenced one of our most inventive novelists"-- "Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut"--

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