Welcome to the Monkey House

Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of 25 short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut, published by Delacorte in August 1968. The stories range from wartime epics to futuristic thrillers, given with satire and Vonnegut's unique edge. The stories are often intertwined and convey the same underlying messages on human nature and mid-twentieth century society.

Contents

• "Where I Live" (Venture- Traveler's World, October 1964)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Harrison Bergeron" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1961)
• "Who Am I This Time?" (The Saturday Evening Post, 16 December 1961)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Welcome to the Monkey House" (Playboy, January 1968)
• "Long Walk to Forever" (Ladies' Home Journal, August 1960)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "The Foster Portfolio" (Collier's Magazine, 8 September 1951)<ref name="ISFAC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• "Miss Temptation" (The Saturday Evening Post, April 21, 1956)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "All the King's Horses" (Collier's Magazine, 10 Feb 1951)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (Collier's Magazine, 14 March 1953)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "New Dictionary" (The New York Times, October 1966)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Next Door" (Cosmopolitan, April 1955)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "More Stately Mansions" (Collier's Magazine, 22 December 1951)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "The Hyannis Port Story" (Set to be published in The Saturday Evening Post, it was removed when John F Kennedy was assassinated)Template:Citation needed
• "D.P." (Ladies' Home Journal, August 1953)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" (Collier's Magazine, 11 February 1950)<ref name="Klinkowitz">Jerome Klinkowitz The Vonnegut effect pp.19-22</ref>
• "The Euphio Question" (Collier's Magazine, 12 May 1951)<ref name="Klinkowitz"/>
• "Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son" (Ladies' Home Journal, July 1962)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Deer in the Works" (Esquire, April 1955)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "The Lie" (The Saturday Evening Post 24 February 1962)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Unready to Wear" (Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1953)
• "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" (The Saturday Evening Post, 24 September 1955)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "The Manned Missiles" (Cosmopolitan, July 1958)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "EPICAC" (Collier's Magazine, 25 November 1950)<ref name="Klinkowitz"/>
• "Adam" (Cosmopolitan, April 1954)<ref name="ISFAC"/>
• "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954)<ref name="ISFAC"/>

The story "Der Arme Dolmetscher" is listed in the book's copyright notice as being included in this collection, but it was ultimately omitted, and does not appear in any edition of Welcome To The Monkey House. It does appear in Vonnegut's later collection Bagombo Snuff Box.

Adaptations in other media

In 1970, Christopher Sergel adapted the collection of stories into a play, also called Welcome to the Monkey House.<ref>Comedy by Christopher Sergel, based on short stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.</ref> The play was staged at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre in 2010. In 1991, a short-lived television series titled Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House aired on the United States Showtime channel. It was based on Vonnegut's stories and hosted by Vonnegut himself.<ref>Monkey House at the Internet Movie Database</ref>

"Who Am I This Time?" was made into a 53-minute television movie in 1982 starring Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon and directed by Jonathan Demme.

The story "D.P." has been adapted to screen twice. Vonnegut co-wrote the first adaptation, "Auf Wiedersehen", which aired on October 5, 1958, as part of the Ronald Reagan-hosted television anthology series General Electric Theater. The episode starred Sammy Davis Jr. The second adaptation, "Displaced Person", aired on May 6, 1985, as part of the television anthology series American Playhouse,<ref>Displaced Person at the Internet Movie Database</ref> meeting with critical success.<ref>"TV Review; A Vonnegut Story: Displaced Person" by John J. O'Connor</ref> The episode was directed by Alan Bridges and starred Stan Shaw, and won an Emmy for "Outstanding Children's program" for its producers, including Barry Levinson.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

"Deer in the Works" was made into a 25-minute short film in 1980 by Barr Films. It starred Dennis Dugan as David Potter as well as a cast that included Richard Kline, Gordon Jump, Bob Basso and Bill Walker. It was written by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson and directed by Ron Underwood.

References in popular culture

• "Happiness By The Kilowatt", a song by Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, makes several references to "The Euphio Question".
• The Philadelphia-area based hardcore/post-hardcore band This Day Forward included a mostly instrumental song called "Euphio Question" on their 2003 release In Response.
• American hardcore band Snapcase has a song titled "Harrison Bergeron" on their 1997 album Progression Through Unlearning.
• American rock band The Dandy Warhols's fourth studio album is called Welcome to the Monkey House.
• The character Mae rather appropriately picks up a copy of "Welcome to the Monkey House" in the film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Other short story collections

• This collection includes all but one of the twelve stories in Vonnegut's previous short story collection Canary in a Cat House, published in 1961.
• Other short stories Vonnegut wrote during the same time period are collected in a second anthology, Bagombo Snuff Box, published in 1999.