Time to break out your old, dog-eared copies of “Breakfast of Champions” and “Slaughterhouse Five,” not just because their author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., has died at the age of 84, but because these great American novels have so much more to say to us with every read.

It’s been a few years since my last visit with Billy Pilgrim and Vonnegut’s other memorable characters. When I heard about Vonnegut’s death late Wednesday night, my mind drifted back to the humor, the warmth, and the absurdity of it all.  So it goes.