Kurt Vonnegut

A man without a country

sam kruczek

“And as I say to my grandchildren, “Don’t look at me. I just got here.”

“We are killing this planet as a life-support system with the poisons from all the thermodynamic whoopee we’re making with atomic energy and fossil fuels, and everybody knows it, and practically nobody cares. This is how crazy we are. I think the planet’s immune system is trying to get rid of us with AIDS and new strains of flu and tuberculosis, and so on. I think the planet should get rid of us. We’re really awful animals. I mean, that dumb Barbra Streisand song, ‘People who need people are the luckiest people in the world’—she’s talking about cannibals. Lots to eat. Yes, the planet is trying to get rid of us, but I think it’s too late.”

“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.

If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

 THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC”

“We are dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something. We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

Patrick Book

Non-essential, frankly. Sort of a greatest hits or a crib notes on his general feelings and philosophy, and some back-handing of George W. Bush. Brief, comforting to a long-time fan, but mostly retreads if you’ve been through his catalog.

It’s hard to understand how one man got so many things about life right. I hope that when I die and go to heaven I will have the honor of getting to speak with Vonnegut and ask him more about what it means to laugh and cry. Not my favorite Vonnegut but full of wisdom nonetheless.

jaya kohol

Tasha Dykstra

one of my most favorite books I've ever read.

Palash Karia

This is the first Kurt Vonnegut book that I've ever read, and I went into it without knowing what to expect.

I found it amazingly insightful & funny, & at times, tragic. It's a short read, and is definitely going to end up in my favourites. I would read it again

eugenie oh

A Man Without a Country is Kurt Vonnegut’s hilariously funny 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?"). Based on 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.

A man without a country

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