1990: Why Kurt Vonnegut prefers laughter

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was grim about the future in a hilarious way.

When Ross Reynolds interviewed him September 13, 1990, Vonnegut's tweflth novel Hocus Pocus had just been published. He was 67.

Vonnegut published magazine short stories, novels, plays and non-fiction. But he is best known for his darkly satirical best selling novel "Slaughterhouse-Five."

In this interview Vonnegut talks about his favorite novel, his reaction to the film version of "Slaughterhouse-Five," the craft of writing ("If you open the window and make love to the world, nobody's going to be interested, because the only way you get that unity and that high energy is with one person in mind"). And he recalls hanging out with Rodney Dangerfield on the set of "Back to School", a film in which he had a cameo role.