war wounds; a Dresden Firestorm numbing

It seems like Vonnegut vocabists fall under the header of Granfaloons. And
this list qualifies as a wampeter and finally "Hope that helps" sounds like
your foma.
 
Of course they have no meaning to some one like Vonnegut the citizen of the
world, the loyalist to the effervescent self. So, there aren't some things
that most, say New Mexicans share? Of course not, the world is all mundane
like ceramic tile and its ever replicated patterns. Kurt and word meanings
now, that is a shocking juxtaposition and no Amazon involvement Kim,
Scottie your Nome de post as per Mr. 'gut is a mere granfaloon!
Daniel
 
 
Sorry Jim,

I couldn't resist. A "granfaloon" is "a proud and meaningless association
of human beings." It's a Vonnegutism. It Vonnegut's *Cat's Cradle,* he
talks of these recognized groups of people that, in reality, have no meaning
as a group. In the book, he uses the example of "Hoosiers" who, other than
all coming from the same place, really have little or no meaning for each
other.

Later, Vonnegut entitled his collection of essays *Wampeters, Foma, and
Granfaloons." A wampeter "is an object around which the lives of many
otherwise unrelated people may revolve." He cites the Holy Grail. And foma
are "harmless untruths intended to comfort simple souls." His example:
"Prosperity is just around the corner."

Hope that helps.

--John

PS: Forgot to mention the prize for guessing the other four novels in my
Art, Love and Madness course (actually, "Art, Writing, Love, and Obsession"
to be accurate). The winner gets drinks and dinner at the lovely Moon Under
Water cafe, outdoors in the warm summer night under a million stars,
overlooking the bay, in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

The two books already mentioned, as you no doubt have realized, are
Breakfast of Champions and The Bell Jar. There are four more.

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Received on Thu Jun 26 11:15:13 2003