Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84

By Matthew Robinson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark, satirical vision in works including "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle" was shaped by the horrors he witnessed during World War II, has died at age 84.

Vonnegut died on Wednesday after suffering brain injuries following a fall weeks ago, said Donald Farber, Vonnegut's friend, lawyer, agent and manager.

Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction, but his 14 novels were classics of the American counterculture, resonating with the U.S. antiwar sentiment during the Vietnam War era.

The author's Web site, updated after his death, displayed a simple black-and-white image of a bird cage -- a symbolic element in his writing -- empty with an open door. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922-2007," the page read.

"He was a beautiful man," Farber said. "I never hung up the phone without having laughed, he always left me laughing, no matter what the circumstances of the world."

"I last spoke to him the day he fell," Farber said. "He was in good spirits. Every time he spoke with me no matter what the circumstances in the world, he had a funny angle on it even if it wasn't a funny thing."

Despite battles with severe depression, Vonnegut was known for his witticisms.

"I've had a hell of a good time," Vonnegut once wrote. "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different."