Kurt Vonnegut is celebrated as one of the most successful novelists in the United States of the post-World War II period. His literary works have had several impacts on American culture, including the use of the word "karass" among college students, the naming of the pop groups "Ice Nine Kills" and "The Billy Pilgrims", and the frequent use of the term “So it goes” as he wrote in Vonnegut's obituary in the New York Times (Farrell, p.ix). This article examines Vonnegut's impact on his literary work. It reviews the influences of his childhood experiences, his education, his service in the army and employment in various contexts on his work as a writer. His work attracted the attention of a wider audience due to its simplicity and humor which underlined the seriousness of the social and philosophical issues he was addressing in the. twentieth century (Morse, p.15).Vonnegut's literary works are also acclaimed for ushering in the postmodern era in American art. Along with a number of contemporary novelists such as Andy Warhol, Vonnegut's work illustrates the social struggles -cultural in the postmodern era (Farrell, p.ix). Vonnegut's literary works, although conveyed in a humorous tone and cartoonish characters, try to explain the purpose of human beings, the existence of beings and their activities in everyday life. As acknowledged by Farrell: “He has often used the techniques of metafiction (fiction that calls attention to its own artificiality) to examine questions of narrative and the relationship between art and reality. But perhaps most importantly, Vonnegut's fiction offers a scathing critique of social injustice, war, and environmental degradation, while managing to express love and compassion for the weak, disoriented, and often... paper... .entury.Works CitedAllen, William. Understanding Kurt Vonnegut. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1991.Farrell, Susan. Kurt Vonnegut's Critical Companion: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York, NY: Facts on File Press, 2008. Klinkowitz, Jerome. Kurt Vonnegut. London, UK: Methuen, 1982.Krementz, Jill. Kurt Vonnegut. Viewed April 20, 2011 http://salempress.com/store/pdfs/vonnegut.pdf.Lee, Robert. Timequake, New York, NY: Westminster Press, 1982 Morse, Donald. Kurt Vonnegut. San Bernardino California: Borgo Press, 1992. Sickles, William. Natural History of the Mind: (New Views on the Relationship of Life), Mahwah, NJ: Nova Publishers, 1997Vonnegut, Kurt. (a) Palm Sunday: an autobiographical collage. New York: Delacorte Press, 1981.Vonnegut, Kurt. (b) A Man Without a Country, Ontario, CA: Seven Stories Press, 2005