Rating: 
Summary: This book has a spectacular blend of comedy and drama.
Review: "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Kurt Vonnegut is probably the best collection of short stories I have ever read. It has a great combination of comedy, drama, suspense, and action. Mr. Vonnegut has a way of including a lot of detail but not so much as to bore you. You often find yourself getting so caught up in the story that you feel almost as if you are there. The story "Epicac" was among the best in the book. It takes place in the fifties and the first super computer has been built. A man tells the computer about the problems in his love life and the computer actually has an answer for him. He and the computer continue to have these conversations until one day the computer develops emotions. He feels the need to be loved and burns out trying to figure out why he can't be. "Welcome to the Monkey House" is another good story in the book. It takes place in a future where sex is outlawed. Then this man comes along who refuses to take his hormonal control pills. He persuades many women to join him on his quest. He then kidnaps a woman and takes him to a hidden place where they make love. "Welcome to the Monkey House" is a fast paced book for any reader. It will keep you enthused with its detail and entertained with its humor.
Rating:
Summary: As essential as the novels
Review: I'm not a huge fan of short story collections since I'd much rather sit through a single story throughout all those pages instead of a series of tales that at best tend to be hit or miss and wildly inconsistent. However there are some writers that I will acknowledge are masters of the form, Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury and of course Kurt Vonnegut (that's not even counting the "classic" short story masters who I haven't read) who's novels sometimes come across as longish short stories anyway. Most of these stories were written early in his career, in the fifties or sixties and it looks like someone actually made an attempt to sequence them instead of just dumping them in chronoloogical order, thus there's a bit of a procession as you move along, finally ending with the darkly hopeful 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". Along the way you'll find that the quality is quite high and many of these are very much vintage Vonnegut. He mixes around with genres and so SF exercises such as "Harrison Bergeron" and "Welcome to the Monkey House" (classics both) sit comfortably next to more typical stories such as "Manned Missiles" (which gets my vote for most effective story in the collection and surprised me the most). There aren't really any clunkers here, some are simpler than others and will pass you by without much impact, but the majority all have some moment or theme to recommend them as keepers and give you something to think about long after you've finished them. Sure, most of the stories were written in a different time but regardless of the SF or the Cold War backdrop or whatever, these are essentially timeless and deserved to be read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: He writes science fiction, with a dash of harsh reality.
Review: Myself, I've never read any Vonnegut in the past. As a matter of fact, I have not read many books at all before. This collection of short stories is just perfect for someone like me. The stories vary from about five pages to twenty pages apiece, making them easy for anyone to ascertain in a short amount of time. After getting about half-way through the book I decided to go out and purchase SLAUGHTER-HOUSE-FIVE, SIREN OF THE TITANS, and GODBLESS YOU DR.KEVORKIAN. That is what is so beautiful about this book, the fact that someone who never reads, can easily peruse a story or two with out missing a beat. Kurt will capture your attention in every tale.
Vonnegut came way before my time, but now I see what all the recognition was about. His ideas on government and modern society were way ahead of his time. His notions of peace, shifty politicians, and clandestine activities are what make him an excellent addition to any radical library. He writes science fiction, with a dash of harsh reality. These ideals, of an overpopulated world in which every aspect of our lives are governed, are presented with extraordinary detail in Vonnegut's writing. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Harrison Bergeron, and Welcome to the Monkey House (The story) are lurid representations of the way the future could be. This book has it all romance, tragedy, and triumph. Every story is not just science fiction, as you may imagine. Most of the stories are set in the past and have no portrayals of an automated society or a talking dog that helped to invent electricity. In fact, one of my favorite stories, The Foster Portfolio, is one that contains no special effects at all. Like many of Vonnegut's other stories, The Foster Portfolio just deals with simple human characteristics like pride, ambition, and happiness. The presentation that Kurt puts into his characters is marvelous. When you get done reading one of his stories you'll feel as though you know the characters.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing collection of short stories
Review: Having never read Vonnegut before, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The title led me to expect some degree of science fiction. What I found was a collection of rich, wonderfully written stories about a wide assortment of subjects. Vonnegut is a great writer, pure and simple. Many of the stories dealt with the future and the state of society, and Vonnegut struck me as having a somewhat cynical yet witty view of the subject. I found the themes of his stories to be somewhat akin to my own fears of life as we will some day know it, in a world where the government attempts to create utopia on earth. Two of the more memorable stories found in these pages are "Harrison Bergeron" and "Welcome to the Monkey House." In the first story, we find the type of society that I fear the most, a socialist republic where all people are required to be equal; those who possess intelligence and pose the danger of actually thinking are controlled by implants which forcefully disallow any thought from entering their minds. In the latter, we find a Malthusian world of overpopulation where everyone takes pills to numb the lower halves of their bodies and people are encouraged to come to Federal Ethical Suicide Parlors and voluntarily remove themselves from the crowded world. Other stories deal with massive overpopulation troubles. On the other hand, we find more simplistic stories in which Vonnegut conveys individuals in a deep, touching light, striking great chords of sympathy in this reader's mind. A woman who is obsessed with redecorating the houses of her neighbors yet cannot afford to buy decent furniture for her own house; a young woman who comes to a strange town, captivates everyone with her beauty, is criticized and publicly humiliated by a young man for being the kind of girl he could never win the heart of, and is richly shown to be an innocent, lonely soul; a teen who acts horribly because he has never had a real family but is saved from a life of crime by a teacher who makes the grand effort to save the boy--these are some of the many subjects dealt with by the author. There is even a heartfelt story about a young Russian and young American who are killed in space but who inspire understanding and détente between the two superpowers by bringing home the point that they were both young men with families who loved them and who had no desire for anything but peace--written during the height of the Cold War, that story really stood out to me. All of the stories are not eminently satisfying to me, but the lion's share of them are; a couple of stories seemed to have been written for no other reason but to make the author some money, which is okay (especially since Vonnegut introduces the stories by saying he wrote them in order to finance his novel-writing endeavors). I may have been less than satisfied by a couple of stories, but even the worst of the lot was written wonderfully and obviously with much care, and I daresay that few writers could do better on their best day than Vonnegut does on his worst. Sometimes, as one ages, one fears that he will eventually have read all of the best books in the world, but then one discovers an author such as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and it is one of the best and most exciting things that can happen to that person.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut's Short stories surpass his novels
Review: If you like Vonnegut this collection of short stories is a must. This is the only book of short stories that I have ever read cover to cover. This is the only book I reread almost on a yearly basis. I have give this book as a gift often to people suprise they say that it is Vonneguts best work. Unlike other short story writers, Vonnegut short stories different from one another and do not repeat the same boaring gimmics over and over. "All the Kings Men" is about an insane game of Chess "Eipac" is about a computer who becomes more than a computer. "Who will I be today" is about two people who fall in love by not being themselves. "DP" is about a half black / half German orphan who stumbles on a unit of american GI's during WWII "Slow walk into tomarrow" is about an AWOL soldier who goes takes a walk with only woman that he could ever lovethe day before she is to marry another man. (THIS IS THE BEST) There are about ten more each unique as Vonnegut.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes You Think
Review: Well, most of the 54 previous reviewers raved about this collection of stories, but I did see one reviewer who felt the story, Monkey House, seems to encourage a certain illegal behavior. I agree with that observation, and while I was reading the story I was certain people today would notice that point: Maybe in 1968 (the publication date), people didn't notice? Some of the stories seemed like "starter" stories, something a "wannabe" writer might write. But some really do make you think. What if you were forced to be "equal" to everyone else (Harrison Bergeron)? What if an anti-aging concoction was discovered and the population explosion covered the earth with people of all ages (Tomorrow etc.)? These kinds of questions are certainly relevant today, and that may be one measure of their worth: longevity. I could not read this book like a novel, with growing interest as the plot unfolds. For me, it was the type of book one would have to put aside from time to time, to kind of "digest" the contents, before reading more. That could be another measure of literary worth: it doesn't go down like cotton candy but kind of "stays with you," the way a good meal should. Diximus.
Rating:
Summary: If You Have Read Everything Else Vonnegut Has Written...
Review: Having just finished Welcome to the Monkey House, I must admit that I prefer Vonnegut's lengthier works. I know this may make me a grand candidate for a good stoning, as Mr. K is reputed to be one of the best short story writers around, but this one just didn't do it for me like Slaughterhouse or Hocus Pocus or even Slapstick. Don't get me wrong, these stories are good, they just aren't any better than other famous and well read sci-fi short fiction writers like Asimov or Bradbury.
I think, oddly enough, the constriction of the medium has to do with some of the similarities I see between these stories and, say, the works of Ray Bradbury (who came to mind a number of times while reading this work). While Vonnegut's novels are sprawling and conversational with enough room for a doodle or two, these small pieces are forced into a beginning, middle and end format that doesn't play as well with his style.
I have devoured a number of Vonnegut works in a day or so, and sometimes I have read a them back to back, but Monkey House took me almost two weeks to read. I stalled out a few times, sometimes after two pages of a new story, and put the book down to finish it later. I ended up reading a story a day for the last week, just so I could finish without getting burned out.
Like I said before, these stories aren't bad, they just seem to be standard for both their age and their genre when Vonnegut tends to be anything other than standard on every other occasion. I wasn't terribly disappointed, but I will stick to the novels from now on.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut Pulls Through Again with Monkey House
Review: Kurt Vonnegut has a very unique writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is not your regular book. This is a collection of short stories. All of them are classic Vonnegut. They include humor, and off the wall plots. A lot of the stories remind me of Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury).
Some of the stories are set in the future, others in the past. They are all captivating and encourage imagination. A lot of Vonnegut stories have a lesson to them if you look hard enough. This book's short stories definitely show some of the lessons he tries to teach. If you have never read a Vonnegut book this would be a great one to start with. Because the stories are not very long, if you lose interest you can easily move on a different story. The actual story, "Welcome to the Monkey House" is great. Vonnegut shows us how warped our world could be. Many of the stories are like that. Vonnegut continues to show us new possibilities in the realm we live in. None of his stories are so outlandish that they could never happen. He always includes enough reality to never make it impossible. What he does include makes us take a look at what we really want to allow the government to control and what could happen. Only Kurt Vonnegut could make a story that is about "ethical suicide." I loved it!!!! You will love this book, it is wild, it is crazy, and it is totally VONNEGUT.
Rating: 
Summary: I disagree
Review: I have been reading Mother Night today, and so I got up to review Welcome to the Monkey House, a book I read no less than five years ago. Dimly, I recall this as my least favorite Vonnegut book. I understand today that this is because Vonnegut is a master of short stories, but the longer they become the more they can be appreciated. He never leaves his genre. You can pick up a chapter of any book he's written and it tells a story, beginning to end. What is particular to Vonnegut is how he attaches one segment to the next, and all segments into a book. Welcome to the Monkey House (and likely in other collections, such as Bagombo Snuff Box, which I have not read) is a book that brings together Vonnegut stories with no intended connection. They are interesting, but they aren't fantastic. It just isn't as fun.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut is THE short story writer!
Review: I'm generally not the biggest Vonnegut fanatic, but when I saw this at a book sale for a mere twenty-five cents, I snatched it up as quickly as I could. Often fate leads me to my favorite books, (as opposed to recommendations), and this is certainly true here. Vonnegut is THE short story writer! As a novelist, I appriciate his uniqueness, but his short stories take his brilliance and compact it into ten pages -- prepare yourself for some of the most thought-provoking 352 pages around. His stories can be reread, this book can be read cover to back, and Vonnegut can be appreciated in even greater depth by the devout fan and Vonnegut novice alike. He's books and his subtle messages are wonderful, but somehow he short stories spoke to me. He is just a man full of ideas. _Welcome to the Monkey House_ had me licking my lips to this scrumptious bunch of stories, and wanting more.
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