God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
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God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared insane to enable a more distant relative, Fred Rosewater, an insurance salesman from Rhode Island, to gain control.
Plot
Founded originally to help the poor and downtrodden by Eliot's father, a senator in Rosewater County, Indiana, the Rosewater Foundation has indirectly contributed to maintaining generations on welfare. Eliot had been seen as restless early on trying all the typical things that philanthropists do to help the poor but eventually sets out across America from small town to small town before landing in Rosewater and setting up shop. He also serves as a member of the volunteer fire department. A coniving lawyer by the name of Mushari has set out to prove him insane so he can collect a portion of the rosewater fortune for himself during the transfer of it to the unwitting distant cousins in Rhode Island.The novel is told mostly through a collection of short stories dealing with Eliot's interactions with the citizens of Rosewater County. The antagonist' tale, Mushari's, is told in a similar short essay fashion, usually with the last sentence serving as a punch line. These stories usually reveal different hypocrisies of mankind in a very dark and humorous fashion.
Cameo Appearances
In this novel, Kilgore Trout, the ever-present science fiction writer considered to be Vonnegut's alter-ego, makes an appearance and charms many rich and affluent people including Eliot's father at the end of the novel. Diana Moon Glampers, the handicapper general of the short story Harrison Bergeron, makes an appearance despite the great difference in time frames between Eliot's story and Harrison's.
Short story collections — Canary in a Cathouse (1961) | Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) | Bagombo Snuff Box (1999)
Collected essays —
Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (1974) |
Palm Sunday, An Autobiographical Collage (1981) |
Fates Worse than Death, An Autobiographical Collage (1990) |
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (2001) |
A Man Without a Country (2005)
Plays —
Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970) |
Between Time and Timbuktu, or Prometheus Five: A Space Fantasy (1972) |
Make Up Your Mind (1993) |
Miss Temptation (1993) |
L'Histoire du Soldat (1993)
Adaptations
Film —
Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971) |
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) |
Next Door (1975) |
Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) |
Mother Night (1996) |
Breakfast of Champions (1999)
Stage — Welcome to the Monkey House (1970, 1974) | Sirens of Titan (1974) | Cat's Cradle (1976) | God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) | Breakfast of Champions (1984) | Requiem (Stone, Time, and Elements: A Humanist Requiem) (1988) | Slaughterhouse-Five (1996)
Television — Displaced Person (1958, 1985) | EPICAC (1974, 1992) | Who Am I This Time? (1982) | All the King's Horses (1991) | Next Door (1991) | The Euphio Question (1991) | Fortitude (1992) | The Foster Portfolio (1992) | More Stately Mansions (1992) | Harrison Bergeron (1995)
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