“The central theme in Vonnegut’s fiction from the 1960s is the irrationality of governments and the senseless destruction of war.” – NPR on the four novels written by Kurt Vonnegut that the Library of America is republishing: Cat’s Cradle; God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions.

• Most random sounding bite of the day: Meghan McCain and Michael Ian Black are writing a book together. Let us repeat: the conservative writer (and daughter of John McCain) will team up with the guy from The State.

• George Clinton will speak at the British Library in London.  According to The Guardian, he will be discussing “science fiction, Afro-futurism and, er, gettin’ down.”

• Josh Lambert on why he believes so many young Jewish fiction writers are grounding their novels in scholarly research.

• From Patti Smith to Zadie Smith: New York love in literature.