A Man WIthout a Country

Reading Kurt Vonnegut's latest work, A Man Without A Country, makes one thing clear. Vonnegut believes the title is self-descriptive.
Vonnegut was one of this country's leading novelists. I say "was" because he has not written a novel for years (with the exception of 1997's forgettable Timequake) and does not plan another. A Man Without A Country is not a novel. It is a slim collection of essays, speeches and summaries of interviews from over the last several years. They are more accurately characterized as the musings of a man in his early 80s reflecting on where his country sits in the waning years of his life. It is not a pretty commentary.
It is apparent Vonnegut is not in today's American mainstream, if he ever was. Vonnegut is a humanist. ("We humanists try to behave as decently, as fairly, and as honorably as we can without any expectation of rewards or punishments in an afterlife.") Vonnegut is a socialist. ("Christianity and socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve.") He is a self-described Luddite and a man with a dim view of what humankind has done to the world and the resulting effect on man's future. He also is not afraid to speak his mind on any of these points despite the fact many of his positions will not make him a popular figure in today's America.
Vonnegut was and is best known his use of humor and satire in his writing. Elements of it appear in this collection. Yet his wit may be even more sardonic then ever, often requiring him to tell readers when he is being serious and when he is not. Yet even Vonnegut appears to realize that his days of humor may be numbered.


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