Second that, Cyan. My first exposure to him was a nightmare. I was in an "advanced" English lit class in Gr 10 (I was also suffering from terrible depression and poor self-image at the time, not to mention a severe case of acne). I hated my teacher, Janet H, who in retrospect was a pretty hip chick (great legs); she played Beatles records, had us "analyze" George Harrisons' lyrics to "Within Without You" and even had a methhead Poet friend of hers give us a guest lecture (his hands were shaking so badly, he could hardly write at the blackboard). But....she wanted us to read Cat's Cradle....and I hated that fucking book so much...I just couldn't understand his sarcasm, I guess. After that, I never went near another thing written by Vonnegut. So to me, he will not be missed. Maybe I've really missed something, but I could not bring myself to read more Vonnegutz after that.
And I am full on about Margaret Laurence, especially Stone Angel. Amazing novel. : ))
