The Brothers Vonnegut: Science and Fiction in the House of Magic

A story of Cold War weather control and two remarkable men is "a gem . . . about science and politics that touches on big questions about ethics and progress" (San Francisco Chronicle).

In the mid-1950s, Kurt Vonnegut takes a job in the PR department at General Electric in Schenectady, where his older brother, Bernard, is a leading scientist in its research lab—or "House of Magic." Kurt has ambitions as a novelist, and Bernard is working on a series of cutting-edge weather-control experiments meant to make deserts bloom and farmers flourish.

While Kurt writes zippy press releases, Bernard builds silver-iodide generators and attacks clouds with dry ice. His experiments attract the attention of the government; weather proved a decisive factor in World War II, and if the military can control the clouds, fog, and snow, they can fly more bombing missions. Maybe weather will even be the "New Super Weapon." But when the army takes charge of his cloud-seeding project (dubbed Project Cirrus), Bernard begins to have misgivings about the harmful uses of his inventions, not to mention the evidence that they are causing alarming changes in the atmosphere.

In a fascinating cultural history, Ginger Strand chronicles the intersection of these brothers' lives at a time when the possibilities of science seemed infinite. As the Cold War looms, Bernard's struggle for integrity plays out in Kurt's evolving writing style. The Brothers Vonnegut reveals how science's ability to influence the natural world also influenced one of our most inventive novelists.

"Fascinating." —Wall Street Journal

"Convincing and enjoyable." —New Republic

"A superb, provocative, and crystal-clear narrative nonfiction." —Booklist, starred review

"An engaging yet disquieting portrait of postwar America." —Kirkus Reviews

© 2024 Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ebook): 9780374711542

Release date

Ebook: 2 July 2024