--- title: "Vonnegut Grades Own Writing in Palm Sunday Collection" url: https://newscentral.site/vonnegut-grades-own-writing-in-palm-sunday-collection/ language: en publisher: "News Central Site" section: "Lifestyle" published: 2026-11-11T01:00:01.000Z updated: 2026-11-12T10:06:04.724Z id: 07a938db-32ba-47c6-b827-e742d89ffc56 source: "Mental Floss https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/books/kurt-vonnegut-best-worst-books?utm_source=RSS" attribution: "Link to https://newscentral.site/vonnegut-grades-own-writing-in-palm-sunday-collection/ and name News Central Site when you quote or summarize this story." --- # Vonnegut Grades Own Writing in Palm Sunday Collection The book features a unique grading system where Vonnegut assigns letter grades to his own writing, from A to D. Kurt Vonnegut's 1981 book Palm Sunday is a unique collection that brings together speeches, essays, letters, and other miscellaneous writings. The author subtitled it An Autobiographical Collage, reflecting its eclectic nature. One of the most intriguing aspects of this work is when Vonnegut takes the bold step of grading his own writing, an unusual practice for a novelist. In Palm Sunday, Vonnegut reveals that he has graded his separate works from A to D, assigning each piece a letter grade based on its quality. He makes it clear that these self-assessments are not meant to place him in literary history, but rather to compare himself with his own past work. This approach allows him to give high marks to certain novels while acknowledging the existence of other accomplished writers. The grading system is explained by Vonnegut in a brief introduction, where he outlines the criteria for evaluating his writing. He emphasizes that these self-assessments are subjective and intended only to track his own growth as an author. By considering his works in this way, Vonnegut aims to provide readers with insight into his creative process. One of the most interesting aspects of Palm Sunday is how Vonnegut's self-assessments reveal a nuanced understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses as a writer. This introspection allows him to distinguish between his more accomplished works and those that fall short, offering a unique perspective on his literary career. The grades assigned by Vonnegut are not meant to be taken as definitive evaluations of his work. Rather, they represent his personal assessment of his writing abilities at different points in time. By examining these self-assessments, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the author's creative process and the factors that influenced his output. As we delve into Vonnegut's grading system further, it becomes clear that he is not afraid to confront his own shortcomings as a writer. His willingness to assess his work in this way provides a fascinating glimpse into his artistic psyche, shedding light on both his triumphs and failures as an author. Kurt Vonnegut's self-assessment of his works is an intriguing exercise in humility and honesty. He devised a grading system to evaluate his own writing, assigning letters from A to D to each book. This approach allowed him to compare himself across different projects without considering external literary standards. The list starts with his debut novel Player Piano, published in 1952, which received a B grade. His subsequent novels, The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, all earned A grades, indicating a strong start to his career. However, it was not until Cat's Cradle (1963) and Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) that Vonnegut awarded himself the highest grade, an A-plus. These two novels stand out as particularly notable works in his oeuvre. As Vonnegut continued writing, his grades began to slip. The story collection Welcome to the Monkey House received a B-minus, while Breakfast of Champions and Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons both earned C grades. This downturn is striking, given that Jailbird, published in 1979, managed to pull Vonnegut back up to an A grade. This suggests that even at the height of his career, he was still capable of producing work that met his own high standards. Palm Sunday, a book likely written during this period, received a C grade from Vonnegut himself, placing it below Player Piano in terms of quality. Kurt Vonnegut had a rather candid approach to evaluating his own work. In addition to giving several books low grades, including Player Piano and Palm Sunday, he assigned two of his works a D grade each. One of the novels that failed to impress him was Slapstick, published in 1976. This book tells the story of two giant, eccentric twins who are unusually intelligent when together but dull apart. Interestingly, Vonnegut has stated that this novel is essentially an autobiography, with the twins modeled after himself and his late sister Alice. The reception to Slapstick was overwhelmingly negative. Critics at the time were unkind in their assessments, with Greil Marcus calling it "cute, contrived, demeaning, devoid of real feeling" in a review for Rolling Stone in October 1976. Other publications like The New York Times and The Village Voice also panned the novel. When Vonnegut was confronted about these harsh reviews by Walter James Miller on WNYC, he initially defended his work. However, just five years later, he seemed to agree with the critics' assessments in writing. According to Open Culture, Vonnegut would later tell Charlie Rose that he had been too harsh in his evaluation of Slapstick. Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slapstick received scathing reviews from critics upon its release in 1976. Reviewers such as Greil Marcus and those writing for The New York Times and The Village Voice were harsh in their criticism, labeling the book "cute, contrived, demeaning, devoid of real feeling." In an interview with Walter James Miller on WNYC that same year, Vonnegut was asked to respond to these criticisms. Although he didn't directly address them at the time, five years later he would come close to agreeing with their assessments in writing. Vonnegut's novel grades continued beyond Slapstick, as he went on to write Deadeye Dick in 1982, Galápagos in 1985, Bluebeard in 1987, Hocus Pocus in 1990, and Timequake. None of these subsequent works were included on his initial report card. The closest thing to a later verdict on Slapstick turned up in 1992, when critic Michael Mason reviewed Vonnegut's second collage, Fates Worse Than Death, for the London Review of Books. In his review, Mason noted that Vonnegut had recently called Galápagos his "best book. Mason also revisited Vonnegut's original report card and pointed out the grade at the bottom: a D is, by any measure, a very low mark, especially when given to oneself. This marked one of the few times that Vonnegut would revisit his initial evaluation of Slapstick. His later thoughts on the book were somewhat more nuanced than his initial reaction. Vonnegut's ambivalence towards Slapstick continued for some time, with him later telling Charlie Rose in an interview that he had been too harsh in his earlier assessment of the novel. Kurt Vonnegut responded to a review of his work in the London Review of Books by sending them a letter that was published later that August. Vonnegut's letter was a witty and sarcastic response to the critic's assessment, with him quoting Shakespeare's Hamlet to express his gratitude for the relief the review had brought. The quote he used came from the opening scene of the play, where Hamlet says For this relief much thanks; 'tis bitter cold before leaving off abruptly at the word etc. which stands for et cetera and means and so on". Vonnegut's ambivalence towards his novel Slapstick continued even after he had initially dismissed it as one of his weaker works, with a later reflection that suggests a more nuanced view. --- Source: [Mental Floss](https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/books/kurt-vonnegut-best-worst-books?utm_source=RSS) Published by News Central Site: https://newscentral.site/vonnegut-grades-own-writing-in-palm-sunday-collection/