A Man Without a Country

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut by Kurt Vonnegut (Author) Edited by Daniel Simon Publisher: Random House ISBN-13: 9780812977363 ISBN-10: 081297736X Publication Date: 1/16/2007 Pages: 145 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Paperback 5.1 x 8 inches, 146 pages In his first book since 1999, it's just like old times as Vonnegut makes with the deeply black humor in this collection of articles written over the last five years, many from the alternative magazine In These Times. But the pessimistic wisecracks may be wearing thin; the conversational tone of the pieces is like Garrison Keillor with a savage undercurrent. Still, the schtick works fine most of the time, underscored by hand-lettered aphorisms between chapters. Some essays suffer from authorial self-indulgence, however, like taking a dull story about mailing a manuscript and stretching it to interminable lengths. Vonnegut reserves special bile for the "psychopathic personalities" (i.e., "smart, personable people who have no consciences") in the Bush administration, which he accuses of invading Iraq so America can score more of the oil to which we have become addicted. People, he says, are just "chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power." Of course, that's exactly the sort of misanthropy hardcore Vonnegut fans will lap up—the online versions of these pieces are already described as the most popular Web pages in the history of "In These Times". ------------------------- A Man Without a Country (subtitle: A Memoir Of Life In George W Bush's America) is an essay collection published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. The essays deal with topics ranging from the importance of humor, to problems with modern technology, to Vonnegut's opinions on the differences between men and women. Many of the essays explicate Vonnegut's views about politics and the issues in modern American society, often from a humanistic perspective. A Man Without a Country was a New York Times Bestseller and a Booksense Notable Book. In January 2007, Vonnegut indicated that he intended this to be his final work – a statement proved correct, with his death in April 2007. All of Vonnegut's later works were published posthumously and consisted almost entirely of previously unpublished material.