*The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock—shock is a worn-out word—but astonish.* [*Terry Southern*](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4420.Terry_Southern?utm_medium=email&utm_source=quote_of_the_day) November 2, 1962: On this day, Stanley Kubrick wrote American author Terry Southern a telegram, requesting help injecting absurdity into his atom-bomb thriller. The resulting collaboration was the cult classic Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.