s with Kurt Vonnegut and his style, we hop all over the place, looking at the world through this lens and that, reflecting as randomly as a pond on a sunny day.

And I rather like it.

A Man Without a Country was written at the end of the author’s life, a look at his own history, his experiences in World War Two (and the bombing of Dresden), as well as the current political climate (which was during the Bush/Cheney years). And a note on that – everything he said about the corruption, the abuse of power, the criminality of it all, it seems “quaint” by today’s standards. It that, the book really made me reflect on the current state of the country, just as a frog will reflect on the current state of its boiling water.

But I really resonated with this effort – it was funny and insightful and interesting. And even now, after decades of the fear of socialism, he put it best in this short paragraph:

“Socialism” is no more an evil word than “Christianity”. Socialism no more proscribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition. Christianity and Socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and should not starve.

So, yes, in a nutshell, this book will appeal to you if you are thoughtful and interested in other points of view. If you have a firm mindset and a fixed worldview, possibly you should read Soldier of Fortune or something.

I really, really did enjoy this. And, honestly, I should have reviewed it sooner – I knocked it out in a day a month ago and had to flip through it again to remember its cadence. Anyway, worth a scan – easy read.

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