If this isn't nice, what is? Advice to the young : the graduation speeches

This collection of short essays (taken largely from graduation speeches) by the late Vonnegut is inspiring and engrossing-and makes for great listening thanks to the skillful vocal chords of narrator Scott Brick. Though there is some repetition in the speeches, each one is ultimately unique and lively. Vonnegut proves to be both amusing and poignant in his remarks. While narrator Kevin T. Collins handles the book's peripheral material, Brick reads the crux of the book: the speeches. He ably teases out Vonnegut's message, adopting a playful tone and capturing the essence of the author's words. A RosettaBooks paperback. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This collection of Vonnegut's speeches, -selected by Wakefield (editor, Kurt Vonnegut: Letters), is comprised of seven graduation addresses that range in date from 1978 to 2004, a speech to the Indiana Civil Liberties Union from 2000, and a 2001 acceptance speech for the Carl Sandburg Award. Vonnegut's uncle, on his father's side, would habitually articulate the small but often unacknowledged pleasures of life with: "If this isn't nice, what is?" Hence the title of this slight volume. Interspersed with his homespun recollections of his adolescence and the curmudgeonly annoyances of adulthood, Vonnegut's inspirational advice to graduates is to work hard, smile often, wear nice clothes, and remember your hometown. Unfortunately, the speeches, without benefit of witnessing Vonnegut's style of delivery or animated performance, are mediocre, torpid, and often unflattering. VERDICT The cost of this book would be better spent on any -Vonnegut novel.-Lonnie Weatherby, McGill Univ. Lib., Montreal (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

"One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time. I mean, Spring doesn't feel like Spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for Fall and so on. Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June! What could be springier than May and June? Summer is July and August. Really hot, right? Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves. Next comes the season called "Locking." That is when Nature shuts everything down. November and December aren't Winter. They're Locking. Next comes Winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold! What comes next? Not Spring. Unlocking comes next. What else could April be? "One more optional piece of advice: If you ever have to give a speech, start with a joke, if you know one. For years I have been looking for the best joke in the world. I think I know what it is. I will tell it to you, but have to help me. You have to say, "No," when I hold my hand like this. All right? Don't let me down. "Do you know why cream is so much more expensive than milk? "AUDIENCE: No. "It is because the cows hate to squat on those little bottles." Excerpted from If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young by Kurt Vonnegut All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.