Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
“A fresh look at Kurt Vonnegut’s classic 1969 novel through the lens of PTSD…[Roston] successfully reenergizes a major work from a writer whose star has faded somewhat. New wars, and more recent fiction about them, may have overshadowed Slaughterhouse-Five, but Roston persuasively shows how the novel speaks both to Vonnegut’s moment and to our own.”

Bookpage
“[An] engrossing tale…an absorbing biographical study…Roston [makes] a strong case that the roots of the novel—and its ultimate message—stem from Vonnegut’s attempts to process all he had witnessed in the war.”

Publishers Weekly
“[Roston’s] passion for Vonnegut’s writing is contagious. … a fresh take on a classic.”

New York Journal of Books
“The Writer’s Crusade is a multifaceted look at one of the great modern novels. It’s part history of how the book came to be, part Vonnegut biography, and a thoughtful consideration of the book’s impact on America’s post-WWII combat vets…The Writer’s Crusade is an important consideration of Kurt Vonnegut and the legacy of Slaughterhouse-Five. Even better, Roston’s work will send readers back to the original novel, and with fresh new insights on Vonnegut’s complex masterpiece