. >> he was one of the most famous authors to come out of indiana up until kurt vonnegut. and i always describe him as helping to define to the rest of the country what a hoosier was. he helped introduce indiana to the rest of the country. indiana loved him for that. >> c-span cities tour is on the road exploring the american story. we take you to indianapolis, with the help of our spectrum cable partners. this saturday at noon eastern on c-span2's book tv, local authors on the city's, history including, a speech robert kennedy made following the death of martin luther king. >> martin luther king dedicated his life. >> kennedy had no prepared text from his campaign speechwriters. and there was kind of a, what am i going to say? kennedy was somebody who could speak to people directly and give them bad news and be counted upon to do the right thing. so it was decided that kennedy would come to 17th and broadway streets to address the crowd that gathered there. p.m. onunday at 2:00 c-span3, we'll visit different historic sites around town, including the home of president benj

vonnegut, joseph heller also engaged in that absurd genre of literature. essay the myth of sisyphus inaugurated that postwar wave of absurdist literature. i argue it has to do with the absurdity, the threat of nuclear war. the story of sisyphus. he had to lift this rock up a hill only to be told by the dogs and fell back down so he would be forever condemned to do the same task over and over without accomplishing it. for many of these intellectuals of the mid 20th century, the age of nuclear weapons presented such an absurd loop. terms, thel superpowers had to advocate for peace because the use of atomic weapons would destroy their enemy and their own population as well. toy had to constantly signal the adversary they were willing to wage war, even nuclear war. they could not give up nuclear weapons. they could not use them either. foundation of deterrent is fundamentally absurd. it was a catch 22. doomed if you do, or if you don't. term catch 22 exist yet. it came in the 1960's from joseph heller's novel. people immediately recognized this was something t