Finding Your Howl

Here is the link to Jonathan Flaum's "Finding Your Howl":

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl

Within the first story, the last remaining red wolves are taken into captivity in an effort to preserve their species.  After some time, the offspring are let back into the wild.  Because that environment is new to them, one wolf named Mumon struggles to adapt and kills his food with shame.  In order to learn that hunting is natural, he undergoes a metaphorical experience that ultimately teaches him to "find his inner howl."  Essentially, he learns his true self by stepping out of a familiar territory and into a new one that brings about his true character.

Here is a link to Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast Of Champions":

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breakfast-of-champions-or-goodbye-blue-monday-kurt-vonnegut/1100271341?ean=9780385334204&itm=5&usri=kurt+vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut is undoubtedly my favorite author of all time.  I have read many of his novels, but one of the more recent books that I have taken the time to read is his successful work entitled "Breakfast Of Champions".  I have yet to finish every single written piece that Vonnegut has published, but of the works that I have sampled, this book is by far the man's most abstract, interesting, and creative.

The story is a rather simple one.  It involves two men; a car salesman and an aging, unsuccessful science-fiction writer.  There is no convoluted or complex plot line regarding these two characters.  The only thing that binds them is the author's will, which Vonnegut makes clear to the reader on the first page.  That's correct, Kurt Vonnegut addresses the reader of his book at all times.  Most authors have a voice in their books by acting as the narrator, or some other type of omniscient or omnipresent being.  What occurs in "Breakfast Of Champions," which I have never seen in any other novel, is that Vonnegut chooses to act as not just a narrator, but the very obvious author that he is.  At first, it is slightly surreal and odd, because he is very casual about speaking with you as a reader.  What amazed me was his range of creative control with this book.  He does not stop at being conversational, but he even goes so far as to let the reader in on what he will be writing in the story, and also the reasons to why he wrote it that way.

Now, more often that not, this technique is used for a postmodern, comical effect.  After all, postmodernism and dark comedy are Kurt Vonnegut's writing fortes when literature is concerned and he is generally regarded as the master of those two attributes.  His approach proves to be quite efficient, but under the surface, he unearths a new creative space for writers and artists alike to explore.  Breaking the proverbial fourth wall is intriguing when used in movies, but when it happens in this book, and for the entire length of the story at that, it brings about a change in the boundaries of creativity.

In essence, Vonnegut makes a statement in "Breakfast Of Champions" that claims that there are really no boundaries in which writers, musicians, moviemakers, painters, photographers, or any other type of artist must stray away from.  Being a musician and aspiring filmmaker myself, Kurt's novel speaks to me on a very high level.  This book both reinforced and practiced the principle of art's endless possibilities.  Limits do not exists when tapping into one's creative side.  Many other examples of art have also echoed this mantra in their own way, such as Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" album which was comprised of only harsh, widely unappealing, metallic clanging sounds and any works of Jackson Pollock, who made artwork by splashing and drizzling paints over a canvas from an above ceiling.  There is a litany of others who have followed this creative egalitarianism.  Vonnegut's novel in particular drives the point through that the best way to be creative is to tear down all limitations.