Born in 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana, KURT VONNEGUTwas one of the few grandmasters of modern American letters. Called by the New York Times "the counterculture's novelist," his works guided a generation through the miasma of war and greed that was life in the U.S. in second half of the 20th century. After a stints as a soldier, anthropology PhD candidate, technical writer for General Electric, and salesman at a Saab dealership, Vonnegut rose to prominence with the publication of Cat's Cradle in 1963. Several modern classics, including Slaughterhouse-Five, soon followed. Never quite embraced by the stodgier arbiters of literary taste, Vonnegut was nonetheless beloved by millions of readers throughout the world. "Given who and what I am," he once said, "it has been presumptuous of me to write so well." Kurt Vonnegut died in New York in 2007.
"During the darkest years of the Bush administration, these essays
… were guide and serum to anyone with a feeling that pretty much
everyone had lost their minds.” —Dave Eggers
“[L]ike his literary ancestor Mark Twain, his crankiness is
good-humored and sharp-witted, and aimed at well-defended soft
spots of hypocrisy and arrogance … On Nov. 11—the holiday Vonnegut,
who was a P.O.W. in Germany in World War II, has always preferred
to think of as Armistice Day—he will turn 83, and since he has no
expectation of a heavenly perch from which to look down and
eavesdrop on his friends, it is best that we appreciate him while
he's still around. A Man Without a Country' is a fine place to
start, especially since it can lead us back to Mother
Night and Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sirens of
Titan and the stories collected in Bagombo Snuff Box. In
other words, it's like sitting down on the couch for a long chat
with an old friend.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Although A Man Without a Country has its roots in ...
essays and public statements, it is, at heart, a different type of
project, fuller, more integrated, not a collection of loose ends so
much as a testament … Certainly, A Man Without a
Country is as overtly political a book as Vonnegut has
written, a lament for an America that is no longer, in which, the
author argues, social justice has been subsumed by war and fear. At
the same time, it may be as close as Vonnegut ever comes to a
memoir, with its mix of autobiography and social commentary, its
reflections on topics as varied as our fossil fuel addiction and
longtime heroes like Twain and labor and political leader Eugene V.
Debs.” —Los Angeles Times
"During the darkest years of the Bush administration, these essays
... were guide and serum to anyone with a feeling that pretty much
everyone had lost their minds." -Dave Eggers
"[L]ike his literary ancestor Mark Twain, his crankiness is
good-humored and sharp-witted, and aimed at well-defended soft
spots of hypocrisy and arrogance ... On Nov. 11-the holiday
Vonnegut, who was a P.O.W. in Germany in World War II, has always
preferred to think of as Armistice Day-he will turn 83, and since
he has no expectation of a heavenly perch from which to look down
and eavesdrop on his friends, it is best that we appreciate him
while he's still around. A Man Without a Country' is a fine
place to start, especially since it can lead us back to Mother
Night and Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sirens of
Titan and the stories collected in Bagombo Snuff Box. In
other words, it's like sitting down on the couch for a long chat
with an old friend." -The New York Times Book Review
"Although A Man Without a Country has its roots in ... essays and
public statements, it is, at heart, a different type of project,
fuller, more integrated, not a collection of loose ends so much as
a testament ... Certainly, A Man Without a Country is as overtly
political a book as Vonnegut has written, a lament for an America
that is no longer, in which, the author argues, social justice has
been subsumed by war and fear. At the same time, it may be as close
as Vonnegut ever comes to a memoir, with its mix of autobiography
and social commentary, its reflections on topics as varied as our
fossil fuel addiction and longtime heroes like Twain and labor and
political leader Eugene V. Debs." -Los Angeles
Times
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