Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    2 B R 0 2 B
    2 B R 0 2 B
    2 B R 0 2 B
    Ebook33 pages19 minutes

    2 B R 0 2 B

    By Kurt Vonnegut

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateApr 2, 2011
    Author

    Kurt Vonnegut

    Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) was a master of contemporary American literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” with Cat’s Cradle in 1963.

    Read more from Kurt Vonnegut

    Related to 2 B R 0 2 B

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      How ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ Saved My Life

      Aug 13, 2020

      Adams's way of viewing the galaxy was so innately appealing to me that I came to adopt it as my own, meeting the universe with my own absurdity whenever possible. The post How ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ Saved My Life appeared first on The

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Myth Of Sisyphus

      Aug 10, 2020

      The Myth Of Sisyphus
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rose - Tinted Glasses

      Nov 10, 2021

      From the corner of her eye, Becca watched a small pack of drunk pixies adding salt into her grandmother’s bone china sugar pot. The sugar pot was the oldest thing in the house, even older than grandmother herself. There would be hell to pay if it bro

      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tender Is The Flesh

      Jan 29, 2020

      RELEASED 6 FEBRUARY 224 pages | Paperback/ebook Author Augustina Bazterrica Publisher Pushkin Press This is a pretty unpleasant book. It’s clearly meant to be, but knowing that doesn’t make it any less unsettling to read. It’s set in a near future wh

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The 40 Greatest Books To Read Before You Die

      Apr 25, 2021

      Books, books, books. They will increase your lifespan, lower your stress and boost your intelligence. They will give you fuller, thicker hair. Whatever the breathless claims about reading, one thing is certain: losing yourself in a great novel is one

      14 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      After Dinner Conversation Magazine – November 2021

      Nov 10, 2021

      This magazine publishes fictional stories that explore ethical and philosophical questions in an informal manner. The purpose of these stories is to generate thoughtful discussion in an open and easily accessible manner. Names, characters, businesses

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Holden Caulfield And The Culture Of Sexual Assault

      Feb 12, 2018

      Since it came out in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye has meant different things to different readers. For some, Holden Caulfield was the rebellious voice of a generation; for many today, he’s a whiny rich kid; for a pair of recent biographers, he’s the

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pleasure Palace

      Sep 1, 2022

      Pleasure Palace
      15 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Excerpts From The Works Of The 2024 Whiting Award Winners

      Apr 10, 2024

      The 2024 Whiting Award winners were announced Wednesday night. Below are excerpts from their work.

      19 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Juggler’s Wife

      Jun 9, 2020

      The situation in itself is not unique. There was a man who hated his job and wanted a new one. There was a man who was sick of his boring job and wanted an exciting job instead. This man was depressed, but he saw a way out. He thought this way out wa

      24 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Reach

      Dec 10, 2023

      Jack Benson stands dissolved in an ocean of strangers, humans he couldn’t have known existed until forced to jostle with them for space and shared odors. He recoils imperceptibly with each touch, eager not to offend or stand out any further. As a mas

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Reach

      Apr 10, 2021

      Jack Benson stands dissolved in an ocean of strangers, humans he couldn’t have known existed until forced to jostle with them for space and share odors. He recoils imperceptibly with each touch, eager not to offend or stand out any further. As a mass

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Quantum Radio

      Feb 22, 2023

      Quantum Radio
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time

      Dec 1, 2023

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      We All Have Our Stories

      Mar 1, 2021

      We All Have Our Stories
      14 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Une Affaire Dangereuse

      Feb 1, 2018

      Une Affaire Dangereuse
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      We Don't Talk About That Here

      Nov 4, 2021

      We Don't Talk About That Here
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Storyteller

      Nov 4, 2021

      Storyteller
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Monster

      Dec 1, 2022

      Monster
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Bob Monkhouse Guide to Orgies

      Feb 7, 2024

      Well done, King Charles, for making us all more prostate-aware. I have been personally prostate-conscious for many years, thanks to one of the kings of comedy, the late, great Bob Monkhouse, who died of prostate cancer, aged 75, in December 1973. Bob

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Oddly Normal

      Aug 19, 2024

      Oddly Normal
      7 min read

    Reviews for 2 B R 0 2 B

    4/5

    286 ratings16 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This is a very short story, set in a future world that I'll call "dystopian utopia." Vonnegut sets the stage succinctly: Everything was perfectly swell. There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars. All diseases were conquered. So was old age. Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers.

      Sounds utopian, right? But there is, of course, a catch. Do yourself a favor and spend twenty minutes reading this story, and think about what makes some lives more valuable than others, and how we make the same kinds of decisions today, just in more subtle ways, on more macroscopic levels.
    • 3/5
      Nice short story, nothing we can't live without, but that's probably my fault --- I rarely like short stories.
    • 5/5
      Grabbed this in audio version for a long car trip and really enjoyed it. Only complaint was that it is a short story and I definitely wanted more. Love Vonnegut so I wasn't surprised at how good it was but continued to be amazed at how he can drill down to the nuances of where our society is going and the crazy "logic" that we continue to apply to justify where we go as a society. As we look at modern medicine and the desire to prolong life this book really hits a chord on the philosophical questions of what it means to be entitled to a long life. Loved it!
    • 5/5
      Definitely Vonnegut! It was a quick read. I almost feel I can't call this reading a book, but it's classified as such, so there you go. I'll do a review on accidentallymars.wordpress.com sometime in the month of March.
    • 5/5
      Sharp Teeth Press; 44/80; Nice story w/ a typical KV moral overtone....too many people!
    • 5/5
      Brilliant little story, with a surprising depth.
    • 5/5
      Sci-Fi is fantastic. Through Sci-Fi, writers can explore the consequences of strong hypothesis and bring them to their limits.

      What if ageing will be "cured"? How would society look like? What would it mean to be human? What would time be? And above all, to be or not to be?
    • 2/5
      The value of life is briefly explored in a world where death has been cured. Worth reading since it is short, but I felt like the topic has more to give than Vonnegut takes.
    • 3/5
      A bit more bleak and not nearly as entertaining or imaginative as the other Vonnegut work that I've read.

      The ending seems a bit too pat and inevitable than I would have expected.
    • 2/5
      It''s as dark as hell and paints a frightening vision of Scientists laying down the law of population control by compulsory suicide.
    • 5/5
      I am a pure Vonnegut fan; he understands the mindless cruelty of mankind.
    • 5/5
      These days you hear a lot about how people born today will likely live to 150 or later. Aside from the bummer of the notion that you will go to work every day for over 120 years of your life, this little story considers some other very important issues with "immortality".

      Namely, population control.

      At under 20 pages this can be read in one sitting, if you get my drift. And it's free on Kindle, so download away!
    • 4/5
      The "0" in the title is pronounced "naught," of course, and is the number that people dial when they are ready for an assisted suicide. This is common in this future earth since people pretty much live indefinitely and that means terrible overpopulation. To control this population problem, anytime a child is born, the parents must secure someone to dial the number or the child cannot live. In this story, the father-to-be is having triplets but has only one person to dial 2BR02B. In the vein of so many other science fiction stories, science and technology has advanced beyond our wildest dreams (humans are nearly immortal), but it comes at a great cost (people must be killed in order to make room for new births) and society in general accepts this as okay and doesn't at all question the morality of the situation. It's an overly practical resolution to a serious problem: if the earth reaches its human saturation point and people no longer die natural deaths, what can be done? This story is extremely short but nevertheless contains classic Vonnegut dry humor and weary outlook on the fate of humanity with just a trace of hope. If you're a fan of Vonnegut, look this story up.
    • 4/5
      I have to say this was interesting. It was my first read by Vonnegut and I do understand now why my son loves him.It's a short story about population control. For every child born that is going to live, a volunteer must die. Imagine what goes through a father's head when his wife is about to have triplets! I enjoyed it and it really makes me stop and think. I didn't think I would enjoy it and I was pleasantly surprised. I think I will give something else by this author a try.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting premise. I am glad we do not have to live a society similar to the one presented here. Not quite what i expected, but very happy I read the book.
    • 3/5
      Short and dark. Typical Vonnegut fare.

    Book preview

    2 B R 0 2 B - Kurt Vonnegut

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of 2 B R 0 2 B, by Kurt Vonnegut

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: 2 B R 0 2 B

    Author: Kurt Vonnegut

    Release Date: May 3, 2007 [EBook #21279]

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2 B R 0 2 B ***

    Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Geetu Melwani and the Online

    Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

    Transcriber's note.

    This etext was produced from Worlds of If, January 1962. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright on this publication was renewed.

    Got a problem? Just pick up the phone. It solved them all—and all the same way!

    2

    B

    R

    0

    2

    B

    by KURT VONNEGUT, JR.

    Everything was perfectly swell.

    There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars.

    All diseases were conquered. So was old age.

    Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers.

    The population of the United States was stabilized at forty-million souls.

    One bright morning in the Chicago Lying-in Hospital, a man named Edward K. Wehling, Jr., waited for his wife to give birth. He was the only man waiting. Not many people were born a day any more.

    Wehling was fifty-six, a mere stripling in a population whose average age was one hundred and twenty-nine.

    X-rays had revealed that his wife was going to have triplets. The children would be his first.

    Young Wehling was hunched in his

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1