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Loading... A Man Without a Countryby Kurt Vonnegut
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. kiwidoc | Mar 13, 2009 |  1   I watched a PBS interview with Kurt Vonnegut and they were talking about this book. I found him to be a very interesting and satirical man. I had never heard of him before and was intrigued by watching him. There were many times throughout the book that I thought to myself "that is exactly what I was thinking." I liked that he was not afraid to say what he felt and I got the feeling that he didn't care who heard him. This book lead me into my quest for reading all Kurt Vonnegut I can get my hands on. I am looking forward to reading much more in the future. (  )Jennmarie68 | Mar 6, 2009 | My kind of humour. I read this book in three hours; the book is quite simple, really, but definitely a great read! Classic Vonnegut. ( )aznstarlette | Nov 18, 2008 | The octogenarian Vonnegut reflects on the nature of humour, the arts, the greatest books, the greatest Americans, religion, family, technology (abominated), war, humankind ... all fascinating to read, of course, from such a pen. There is no index -- but how could there be? Vonnegut's own dictum in his novel, Cat's Cradle, is, `never index your own book'. And how could such very personal musings be given over to another hand to index? KayCliff | Oct 27, 2008 | I think I am part of the problem that Vonnegut was pointing out in his book... kfschmid | Sep 26, 2008 | 0.054 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 081297736X, Paperback)NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“[This] may be as close as Vonnegut ever comes to a memoir.” –Los Angeles Times “Like [that of] his literary ancestor Mark Twain, [Kurt Vonnegut’s] crankiness is good-humored and sharp-witted. . . . [Reading A Man Without a Country is] like sitting down on the couch for a long chat with an old friend.” –The New York Times Book Review In a volume that is penetrating, introspective, incisive, and laugh-out-loud funny, one of the great men of letters of this age–or any age–holds forth on life, art, sex, politics, and the state of America’s soul. From his coming of age in America, to his formative war experiences, to his life as an artist, this is Vonnegut doing what he does best: Being himself. Whimsically illustrated by the author, A Man Without a Country is intimate, tender, and brimming with the scope of Kurt Vonnegut’s passions. “For all those who have lived with Vonnegut in their imaginations . . . this is what he is like in person.” –USA Today “Filled with [Vonnegut’s] usual contradictory mix of joy and sorrow, hope and despair, humor and gravity.” –Chicago Tribune “Fans will linger on every word . . . as once again [Vonnegut] captures the complexity of the human condition with stunning calligraphic simplicity.” –The Australian “Thank God, Kurt Vonnegut has broken his promise that he will never write another book. In this wondrous assemblage of mini-memoirs, we discover his family’s legacy and his obstinate, unfashionable humanism.” –Studs Terkel (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Deceptively simple in construct and tone, this little book covers topics close to the heart of the man – destruction of the planet, divorce, the art of writing, music, politics and so on. Below the conversational style and intimate simplicity of the language, Vonnegut supplies some deeper philosophical reasoning and fist-shaking liberal viewpoints.
He is sharp, humorous and quite uplifting. Yet he frequently rants and the mood of the tract varied between elation and sadness, negativity and hope, light humour and serious portents.
Some quotations:
I think that novels that leave out technology misrepresent life as badly as Victorians misrepresented life by leaving out sex.
“We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial.”
“Foreigners love us for our jazz. And they don’t hate us for our purported liberty and justice for all. They hate us now for our arrogance.”
“We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”
This does not take long to ingest and is likely to be one of those books you will return to - to pull out when you need a kick up the behind. (