This 2007 reading by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti at the 92nd Street Y took place just five days after the death of Kurt Vonnegut, and the program opens with an audio clip from the late writer, in which he states that "the major function of art is to make people like life more than they do". Ferlinghetti's work derives from the same school of thought, making listeners awaken to the world at large. His work is by turns humorous, political, personal, and emotionally stirring. The lines of one poem are interspersed with string music, and he divides his program into pre-9/11 and post-9/11 works. He is introduced by poet Marie Ponsot.