I was introduced to him by my parents from at least two years old -- when my brother Kurt, who takes his name from him, was born. My parents frequently recited to me the transcript of his address to the graduating class of Bennington College in 1970, and before I had even read any of his work, I was familiar with his literary voice.

The first book of his I read, disregarding short stories like Harrison Bergeron, was one of his most acclaimed and influential novels, Slaughterhouse Five. I was inspired by the sentiment of so it goes, which I found a rare story moral which was unique and applicable to my own life, and from that moment on, was hooked on his writing.

I am inspired by his simultaneous bluntness and eloquent simplicity in his writing as much as I am the complexity of the subjects he satirizes and explores. I hope to push past the nonsense hammered into my head in lieu of college prep to find my own voice as he did his own.