|
|
A man without a countryAt the start of A man without a country Kurt Vonnegut explains how as a child in a large family he took to humour as a way of getting himself heard. I thought to myself 'Well that explains a lot'. For I have to say I have never got on with his work, and it seems to me to be constantly saying 'look at me, aren't I strange'. The book starts off OK, with details of Vonnegut's life - but it doesn't last, and really the best recommendation I can give for this book is that it's fairly short, and would serve as a taster, to see how you felt about Vonnegut's writing. Vonnegut is often said to be Mark Twain's literary successor. I'm not convinced myself, but even if this is the case, then, well I've still got plenty of the original Mark Twain's work to read. Towards the end of the book he seems to lapse into fairly uniform criticism of the USA, and at one points explains how he advises a new mother that the best she can do for her child is emigrate. In a way I prefer those Americans who are convinced that everyone else in the world wants to go and live there - at least I can laugh at them.
| Amazon.com info
|
|---|
Hardcover
192 pages
ISBN: 158322713X
Salesrank: 381423
Weight:0.85 lbs | | Published: 2005 Seven Stories Press | | Amazon price $17.96 | | Marketplace:New from $2.99:Used from $0.49 |
|---|
| Buy from Amazon.com |
|---|
|
| Amazon.co.uk info
|
|---|
Hardcover
160 pages
ISBN: 0747584060
Salesrank: 196944
Weight:0.79 lbs | | Published: 2006 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | | Marketplace:New from £3.91:Used from £0.42 |
|---|
| Buy from Amazon.co.uk |
|---|
|
| Amazon.ca info
|
|---|
Hardcover
192 pages
ISBN: 158322713X
Salesrank: 178568
Weight:0.85 lbs | | Published: 2005 Seven Stories Press | | Amazon price CDN$ 18.87 | | Marketplace:New from CDN$ 11.98:Used from CDN$ 7.60 |
|---|
| Buy from Amazon.ca |
|---|
|
| Product Description
|
|---|
A Man Without a Country is Kurt Vonnegut’s hilarious and razor-sharp look at life (“If I die—God forbid—I would like to go to heaven to ask somebody in charge up there, ‘Hey, what was the good news and what was the bad news?’”), art (“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”), politics (“I asked former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton what he thought of our great victory over Iraq and he said, ‘Mohammed Ali versus Mr. Rogers.’”), and the condition of the soul of America today (“What has happened to us?”). Gleaned from short essays and speeches composed over the last five years and plentifully illustrated with artwork by the author throughout, A Man Without a Country gives us Vonnegut both speaking out with indignation and writing tenderly to his fellow Americans, sometimes joking, at other times hopeless, always searching. Kurt Vonnegut is among the very few grandmasters of contemporary American letters, without whom the very term “American literature” would mean less than it does. His novels include Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five, among so many others. Projects with Seven Stories Press in recent years include God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian and, with Lee Stringer, Like Shaking Hands with God, a book about writing. His most recent novel is Timequake (1997). In addition to his writing, Vonnegut is a visual artist of note. His paintings and prints can be seen at www.vonnegut.com. He lives with his wife, photographer Jill Krementz, in New York City. Daniel Simon is the founder and publisher of Seven Stories Press and served as editor on two previous books by Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian and, with Lee Stringer, Like Shaking Hands God. Simon is also co-author of a biography of Abbie Hoffman, Run, Run, Run: The Lives of Abbie Hoffman. |
| Vonnegut's Not so Sad Elegy ***** |
|---|
Published in 2005, two years before his death in 2007, Vonnegut's "A Man Without a Country" is provocative, and intimate; expressing the inner thoughts of a writer whose life reads like a brain feast of human perclivities.
In the American Pied Piper's last work, he shares the prism of his personal journey, including his cynical disdain for government, social institutions, puffy politicos--and, sometimes for life in general. But underneath his sardonic wit flows a bubbling brook of guarded appreciation for the magic of the mind.
He never looses his dry humor, but a bitter-sweet sentimentality is detectable, suggesting that age, and/or end of life reconciliation may have made him a little more contained. Possibly? (In a way, I hope I am wrong.)
He deftly lures his readers to dance with him down his multi-textured, many-colored, yellow brick road--so we can savor the richness beneath our own feet,imagining, perhaps, that we might keep on dancing. A fitting legacy.
Fun to read, always refreshing, and a fitting memoir for a national treasure. I have already bought five copies to share with my best friends. Enjoy! |
| Excellent, but not good value for money if bought new **** |
|---|
If you have not read any Vonnegut before, this is not the place to start. Try Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night or the heartbreaking Slaughterhouse 5 instead. For the already converted, this is a must-read.
This is Vonnegut's equivalent to Hunter s Thompson's Kingdom of Fear, a rumination on the Bush years, though with some intellectual autobiography thrown in. It is considerably better and more successful than Thompson's book, written in Vonnegut's trademark love it or loathe it playful style, with the familiar doodles, asides and irony. Acerbic and perceptive, thoughtful and provocative, it wears its learning lightly while making its points - on the environment, on war, on public morality - profoundly.
Unlike those other more populist and shrill writers in the "airport-pop-polemical-opponent-baiting-politics" genre, Vonnegut does not treat either his targets or his audience as idiots. Vonnegut is too humane for that. His humour should not be confused with a lack of seriousness.
Vonnegut has never shied away from any difficult topic likely to attract criticism from the unreflective - his literary treatment of Germans and Germany after the second World War is a good example, as is his equally sympathetic treatment of socialism and Marx here, and this marks him out as one of the most fearless American writers of the post-war era.
From all this it should be obvious that readers who (a) do not share Vonnegut's general political views and (b) are not sufficiently open-minded to step outside their own mindset, will not profit from this book, and will find it irritating or annoying. Mind you, it is good to get irritated or annoyed once in a while. Helps you figure out why you are annoyed, and then (maybe) whether you should be...
One complaint. The price. It is expensive for what it is. It is a slim volume with generously sized font, and can be read in one short(ish) sitting. The price of the new book is therefore hard to justify, and I got mine second-hand. |
| Great Coda to a Brilliant Career **** |
|---|
A Man without a Country, Kurt Vonnegut's last book published in his lifetime, is a miscellaneous non-fiction collection similar to prior ones like Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons, Palm Sunday, and Fates Worse Than Death. It is very good on this front, comparable in quality to those excellent works and thus a must for fans; those who especially like Vonnegut's non-fiction or are interested in his life and thought will be particularly keen. Neophytes should of course start with his best-known novels, but anyone who likes Vonnegut should stop here eventually.
This is certainly not Vonnegut's most ambitious collection. With only fourteen short pieces, several of which are reprinted from In These Times magazine, and numerous drawings over less than 150 pages, it can easily be read in an hour or two. However, almost everything Vonnegut wrote is of great literary value and considerable sociopolitical interest, and this is no exception. The book got much attention before and at release for its comments on contemporary events like the Bush administration and the War on Terror, and it is indeed highly notable in this way. As always, Vonnegut has great insight into life and humanity, and he turns his acerbic wit loose on the horrors facing twentieth-century America much as he had done with other pressing concerns throughout his life. He had much to say and says it well; his intelligent liberal humanism was and is a refreshing change from the dumbed-down clichés dominating political discourse. He makes the liberal case far more articulately and palatably than most - so well, in fact, that he not only gets attention but may well change some minds. His classic writing style - admirably concise and extremely clear - and trademark black humor go far here. All this makes A Man necessary for liberals, a nice antidote to the innumerable conservative hacks littering bookstores with ghost-written, error-laden rags.
This drove up sales and got Vonnegut well-deserved attention near his life's end but was also exaggerated, as most of the book does not deal with such things. Strong as these sections are, the lack of dominance is somewhat fortunate in that they have already dated the book to a degree. Many of the issues are of course still very relevant, but the situation has changed enough that they are already a little outdated and will only grow more so. They will of course be of historical interest some day but now basically seem like old news.
Not so the rest of the book, which focuses on lifelong Vonnegut concerns like creative writing, technology's dangers, humanism, and religion. Along the way he deals with a variety of historical events and personages, all of them interesting and some of them revealing. The subjects are not new, but Vonnegut's atypical views and near-unmatched storytelling skills make his treatments very readable; I long ago concluded that even his grocery list would be worth reading, and these certainly are. His writing is as strong as ever, as entertaining and funny as it is thought-provoking and emotional. Vonnegut's trademark is mixing ridiculous and sublime, often in close proximity; he may make a crude joke in one sentence and have a profound insight in the next - or even in the same. It may even be that one depends on the other. This is his singular genius, letting him appeal at once to readers of all sorts.
Anyone who has read Vonnegut will be familiar with these strengths, but A Man is particularly notable for a profoundly personal feel. This is partly because much of it is autobiographical; we learn a good deal about Vonnegut's life and thought, both recent and old. Startlingly open, he not only reveals very personal stories but is also very upfront about his misanthropic views - though of course not without humor. He had done this before to varying extents, but A Man goes even further, achieving an intimacy seen in very few books. It does not seem like a literary work by a famous author so much as a personal letter from a warm-hearted but clear-eyed old man; we almost feel we are sitting in front of a fire with Vonnegut as he tells anecdotes. In other words, it is like listening to most people's older relatives - but interesting. One of the best chapters in fact shows letters Vonnegut got from his many fans along plus his answers. Unlike nearly all celebrities, Vonnegut was always open with fans, personally answering letters and even calls; indeed, his phone number and address were publicly listed! This says much about the man, as does the chapter, which is a true treasure.
It is often said that Vonnegut was the Mark Twain of his times, which he would have been the first to say is about the highest compliment possible. With his death America lost not only one of its greatest writers but one of its greatest people - a great artist and a patriot in the truest sense who was never afraid to say what he thought even when he knew it was unpopular. A Man is the final authorized testament from this great American and a worthy coda to a career already full of brilliant work - a must own for this fact alone as well as inherent merit.
|
| A dying man's last words ***** |
|---|
| If you are 'paying attention' and you feel that all you have lived your life fighting for is under attack you will enjoy KV's articulate expression of your observations. If you have been a KV fan and want to see directly into his mind without the abstract expression of his youth, this is your book. I felt sad as I read the book because it was quite clear he knew he was dying. I enjoyed this book because clearly he was a man who had lived his life by his principles. If you are mid aged and have been through a nasty divoce and want to take a beautiful KV trip into abstraction, try Blue Beard, my favorite. |
| Kurt is in heaven now. **** |
|---|
I read this 'memoir' in less than three hours during a Saturday night. One can hardly call it an autobiography because the tidbits of information we get from Kurt's writing is, as usual, not very insightful towards the person's life but more towards the thoughts and humorist outlook Kurt has on the world around him. He writes these words at the age of 82, two years before he would meet his end from irreversible brain injury when he fell in his NYC home. His brain finally played a joke on him, and I'm sure he's been laughing in heaven since then. He'd get a kick out of that last statement, I'm sure.
He certainly tells us tidbits of information that are perhaps more valuable than anything else that can be gleaned from so called 'professionals'. He is the stone in the shoes of conservatism, the loud fly buzzing in the ears of idealism. He weaves many quotes from his previous novels, and ones in the works, into his writing. Not a surprise, since the writing of many is the composite of the author.
His theories are sound, truthful, and without hesitation. One must have a taste for humorist satire to be able to read his thoughts and smile. I wish he could have seen 2012 and to see what he would have to say about our planned demise. I'm sure he would mention something about it being planned all along. We know what we do to our world and now it is too late. Our gasoline junkie selves cannot tear away. He reminds us of this with a pleasant smile and a thumbs up. It is a shame that the world has taken him from us, but a blessing that we were able to keep him for so long. |
| I belong to an unholy disorder, we call ourselves "Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment." *** |
|---|
Old men often get progressively more conservative the older they get, but Kurt Vonnegut was never that kind of old man. A socialist in a country which venerates and promotes the interests of capitalism beyond all other principles, he has long been a lonely voice standing up for what he believes. He's one of the greatest of a very short list of American anti-authoritarianists. His best novels are undoubtedly Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle. It was on the basis of the anthropological content of Cat's Cradle that Vonnegut was awarded a degree by the University of Chicago in 1971. He died at the age of 83 in 2007, following a fall at his Manhattan home.
This set of writings is a kind of brief touchstone for many of his central concerns. The only problem is that they are brief and often retain the levity and wit at the expense of the passion of the principles behind them. If this book was all you knew of Kurt Vonnegut you'd probably think he was just a carping lightweight. The substance of the man doesn't come through. But read it anyway, because it's fun, it's also angry in places, and it contains a lot of feeling if you look beyond the throw-away quirkiness. RIP Kurt. Your like will not be easily found.
|
| Wonderful. ***** |
|---|
This is a delightful book. If you get into it, it will only take you a couple of hours to read, but I think Vonnegut's thoughts and ideas will stay with you for a long time afterwards.
I have only recently started reading Vonnegut- having been aware of the name for a long time- and picked this up at my local library. I was attracted by the subtitle (a memoir of life in George Bush's America) and was delighted to read plenty of digs at that odd character who did impressions of the President of the USA.
There's much more to this book, however, including as it does Vonnegut's wry, cynical, exasperated and very funny observations on everything else worthy of ridicule, from the more vapid aspects of American culture, to semi-colons, on to Western man's love affair with fossil fuels and even the pros and (mostly) cons of early Saab cars.
Written in a delightfully laconic and earthy style, this is the equivalent of passing a lovely afternoon with someone older, wiser and far funnier than youself. It reminded me of Spike Milligan at his best. Like Spike, Vonnegut is a master of adopting an unexpected perspective on things, in order to expose some of the absurdities of life and thereby prove that "nothing could be as mad as what passes for ordinary living". |
| Too old to care how controversial he is. ***** |
|---|
I love this book, and I have immense respect for Mr.V. I've read most of his books. He has turned me on to lots of ideas, Humanism being the main one.
In this round up of thoughts, he points out some very uncomfortable truths about the world we live in and our ignorance and he does this with frank bare-faced honesty, a man not long for this world he has so much to say to us, he has seen and been through so many things. He was in Dresden when the British bombed it, and the horror of it practically drove him mad, I believe his wife/mother drank Draino and killed herself, most of his friends are dead, he invented a religon and created Kigore Trout. When you read him, each sentence is loaded with thought and wit, he's like a full bodied wine.
I look forward to his next book.
|
| Money for old rope... *** |
|---|
| Vonnegut fans will find nothing new in this. Having said that, it's a funny, bright and quick read. If you're fan you will have bought it already, if not buy one of his novels first. |
| Still as sharp as ever **** |
|---|
| Great to see that Vonnegut is still as wise and as cutting as ever in this latest (hopefully not last...at 83 we still don't to lose him!) outing. Although some of the ground (and a few of the anecdotes) may be familiar to diehard fans, his razor wit and observation couple with this outrage at the evils of the world and you can't help but be uplifted. What a spirit, what a guy! |
| The guy can't write a bad book ***** |
|---|
| Having read everything that Mr. V has ever written, I was salivating, waiting for this next foray into weird-land. I was not disappointed. Everything this man touches turns to gold, and his latest literary effort is no exception. If you want to ponder humanity, the human condition, and all that goes with it, then this will be your cup of tea. I bought this along with Jackson McCrae’s “Katzenjammer” and loved both books. You will too. |
|
home