He was never able to write the book. ... That night, he and Bernard looked through Bernard's library for information on the real Children's Crusade. ... That night, he read a book by Erika Ostrovsky. ... Now, he presents us with his war book. ... This book, he says, is a failure. ...
He used his own military experience from World War II to write this particular book. ... Vonnegut's anti-war stance only adds to the difficulty, since (as a filmmaker acquaintance remarks to him) writing a book against war would prevent war as effectively as writing a book against glaciers would prevent their motion. ... In the years following the war, Vonnegut encounters ignorance about the magnitude of Dresden's destruction, and when he contacts the Air Force for information, he discovers that the event is still classified as top secret. ... With his right hand raised, Vonnegu...
