So Help Me God

Reader H shares with us this letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his father, as seen in the 2021 documentary Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. Aged about 28 and working at General Electric, Vonnegut Jr. writes to Vonnegut Sr.: I sold my first story to COLLIER’S. Received my check ($750 minus a 10% agent’s commission) yesterday noon. It now appears that two more of my works have a good chance of being sold in the near future. I think I’m on my way. I’ve deposited my first check in a savings account, and, as and if I sell more, will continue to do so until I have the equivalent of one year’s pay at G.E. Four more stories will do it nicely, with cash to spare (something we never had before). I will then quit this goddamn nightmare of a job, and never take another one so long as I live, so help me God. I don’t know when my first story will be published. It may take several months. I’ll keep you posted. I’m happier than I’ve been for a good many years. Come east soon. Love, K And the rest is…