Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 Mother Night is two things. First, it is a story, a fairly well-told story of a German's life in World War II. Secondly, it is a character sketch of a very Vonnegut-esque man in his forties, and whose only drive to live is his curiosity. My favorite quote from the book isn't even from the story itself. It's from the preface, from Vonnegut. It is this: "This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous moral; I just happen to know what it is; We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
I will say that of the collection of Vonnegut novels I have read this one comes in second place.
1st place Slaughter House 5
2nd place Mother Night
3rd place Breakfast of Champions
But I did like the drawings in BoC so maybe they're tied. Oh I won't fight myself over it. The point is, I recommend reading it and it helps if you pretend the main character is Glenn Beck :X
4.5/5
