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grendel, July 29, 2008

Having lost one America's great men of letters just last year (2007), this final volume of Vonnegut's thoughts and musings on early 21st century American life begs to be read by long-time fans and newcomers alike.

What people unfamiliar with Vonnegut's canon will discover is a subtle wit that barely disguises a more scathing critique for the follies of the powerful (the Bush administration is held in particular contempt), and a gentle soul pleading for a more compassionate future. That Vonnegut plainly states such a future is beyond our reach will sadden those who drew hope from his classic fiction, which he generously makes reference to throughout these sharp and unforgiving essays.

Vonnegut often said that his novels purposefully did not contain any villains--and indeed in books like "Slaughterhouse Five", "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater", and "Breakfast of Champions" the bad actions and decisions his characters make are traced directly to the weaknesses and hopeless circumstances of simply being human--but in "A Man Without A Country" Vonnegut clearly identifies and unleashes anger at real-life malcontents he says have destroyed his emotional connection to and affection for the country he fought for during World War Two. (Vonnegut re-visits his tale of surviving the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war, an event that eventually resulted in his most celebrated work, but also reveals it was an off-hand comment made by the wife of his fellow survivor and friend that allowed him to write about the incident in an honest manner.)

"A Man Without a Country" is a very honest book, but also a sad one. It reveals a brilliant and funny man left bitter and cynical near the end of his life, longing for the lost virtues of American heroes like Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln--the latter a man Vonnegut says was a better writer (citing the Gettysburg Address) than he or almost any other he can imagine, despite being a politician and not an author by trade.

This slim volume can be read in nearly one sitting, but you'll find yourself turning to it again and again for the force of its convictions, even as they point to a country that's lost its way and left so many on a morally wayward path.

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