库尔特•冯内古特（Kurt Vonnegut,1922—2007），20世纪美国最重要、最有影响力的黑色幽默文学代表人物，后现代主义作家。他的作品以喜剧形式表现悲剧内容，在灾难、荒诞、绝望面前发出笑声，引领一代人穿越了20世纪下半叶被战争与贪婪搅乱的美国社会生活，《纽约时报》称他为“反文化小说家”。代表作有《猫的摇篮》《五号屠场》《冠军早餐》《囚鸟》等。他曾幽默地说：“我知道自己是什么人，有几斤几两，我写得这么好，真是冒犯大家了。”

冯内古特出生于印第安纳州的印第安纳波利斯，1944年珍珠港事件爆发，他志愿参军，远赴欧洲战场。1945年遭德军俘虏，被囚禁在德累斯顿战俘营。战后，冯内古特在芝加哥大学获得人类学硕士学位，后在哈佛大学任教。他从50年代起开始发表短篇小说，60年代起开始出版长篇小说。晚年，冯内古特在曼哈顿和纽约长岛的田园里颐养天年。2007 年3月在家中楼梯上不慎摔倒，同年4 月11 日，在曼哈顿逝世。

Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the twentieth century's foremost imaginative geniuses. More than half of Vonnegut's output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together. Organized thematically—"War," "Women," "Science," "Romance," "Work Ethic versus Fame and Fortune," "Behavior," "The Band Director" (those stories featuring Lincoln High's band director and nice guy George Hemholtz), and "Futuristic"—these ninety-eight stories were written from 1941 to 2007, and include those Vonnegut published in magazines and collected in Welcome to the Monkey House, Bagombo Snuff Box, and other books; here for the first time five previously unpublished stories; as well as a handful of others that were published online and read by few. During his lifetime Vonnegut published fewer than half of the stories he wrote, his agent telling him in 1958 upon the rejection of a particularly strong story, "Save it for the collection of your works which will be published someday when you become famous. Which may take a little time."

Selected and introduced by longtime Vonnegut friends and scholars Dan Wakefield and Jerome Klinkowitz, Complete Stories puts Vonnegut's great wit, humor, humanity, and artistry on full display. An extraordinary literary feast for new readers, Vonnegut fans, and scholars alike.