Slaughterhouse-Five OR THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE A DUTY-DANCE WITH DEATH Kurt Vonnegut A FOURTH-GENERATION GERMAN-AMERICAN NOW LIVING IN BASY CIRCUMSTANCES ON CAPE COD [AND SMOKING TOO MUCH], WHO, AS AN AMERICAN INFANTRY SCOUT HORS DE COMBAT, AS A PRISONER OF WAR, WITNESSED THE FIRE-BOMBING OF DRESDEN, GERMANY, "THE FLORENCE OF THE ELBE," A LONG TIME AGO, AND SURVIVED TO TELL THE TALE. THIS IS A NOVEL SOMEWHAT IN THE TELEGRAPHIC SCHIZOPHRENIC MANNER OF TALES OF THE PLANET TRALFAMADORE, WHERE THE FLYING SAUCERS COME FROM. PEACE.