"THIS IS GETTING TEDIUS!": FIRST EDITION OF GOD BLESS YOU, DR. KEVORKIAN, INSCRIBED BY VONNEGUT TO DON FARBER, HIS CLOSE FRIEND, AGENT, AND LITERARY EXECUTOR, AND FARBER'S WIFE, ANNIE

VONNEGUT, Kurt. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian. New York, London, Toronto: Seven Stories, (1999). Octavo, original half blue cloth, original dust jacket. $1600.

First edition of this "classic Vonnegut" work, a volume of "21 koanlike pieces he composed while serving, briefly, as a 'reporter on the afterlife'" for NYC radio station, WNYC (New York Times), inscribed on the half title in the year of publication to Don Farber, Vonnegut's close friend, agent, attorney, and literary executor, and Farber's wife, Annie: "For Don and Annie. This Is Getting Tedius! Kurt Vonnegut. Dec 27 1999.

To Tom Wolfe, Vonnegut was "the closest thing we had to a Voltaire. He could be extremely funny, but there was a vein of iron always underneath it, which made him quite remarkable." This 1999 work, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, contains "21 koanlike pieces he composed while serving, briefly, as a 'reporter on the afterlife' for WNYC… he staged a series of near-death experiences in order to visit what he calls 'the 100 yards or so of vacant lot between the far end of the blue tunnel and the Pearly Gates' and interview the dead. The idea of bringing eternity down to earth, as it were, is classic Vonnegut… the book's subjects range from Eugene V. Debs and Sir Isaac Newton to James Earl Ray and Adolf Hitler, not to mention the longtime Vonnegut alter ego Kilgore" (New York Times). Cover design by Jules Feiffer. "A Seven Stories First Edition" on copyright page. This copy is inscribed by Vonnegut to Don Farber and his wife, Annie. Farber was Vonnegut's agent, attorney, literary executor, and close friend. Perhaps best known for zealously protecting Vonnegut's estate after his death, Farber also wrote a memoir focusing on his friendship with Vonnegut, entitled, I Hated to Do It: Stories of a Life.

About-fine condition.