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Mother Night: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "MY NAME is Howard W. Campbell, Jr..." (more)
Key Phrases: ratty attic, Father Keeley, Werner Noth, George Kraft (more...)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A great artist.”—Cincinnati Enquirer

“A shaking up in the kaleidoscope of laughter . . . Reading Vonnegut is addictive!”—Commonwealth

“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer . . . a zany but moral mad scientist.”—Time

From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback; Reissue edition (May 11, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385334141
ISBN-13: 978-0385334143
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,640 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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#2 in	Books > Entertainment > Humor > Lawyers & Criminals
#6 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( V ) > Vonnegut, Kurt
#7 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( V ) > Vonnegut Jr., Kurt

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
MY NAME is Howard W. Campbell, Jr. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ratty attic

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Father Keeley, Werner Noth, George Kraft, Second World War, New York, Blue Fairy Godmother, Greenwich Village, The White Christian Minuteman, Resi Noth, Black Fuehrer, West Berlin, August Krapptauer, Abraham Epstein, Mexico City, Helga Noth, Colonel Frank Wirtanen, Free American Corps, Eva Noth, Creative Playthings, Bing Crosby, Fifth Avenue, United States of America, Adolf Eichmann, Chief of Police of Berlin, Alvin Dobrowitz

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 10 books:

Welcome to the Monkey House (R) by Kurt, Jr. Vonnegut in Front Matter
The Sirens of Titan: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut in Front Matter
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut in Front Matter
Space Age by William J. Walter on page 213
Welcome to the Monkey House: Stories by Kurt Vonnegut in Front Matter

See all 10 books this book cites

100 books cite this book:

The Vonnegut Chronicles: Interviews and Essays (Contributions to the Study of World Literature) by Peter J. Reed on 30 pages
The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut: Imagining Being an American (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) by Donald Morse on 25 pages
The Vonnegut Effect by Jerome Klinkowitz on 24 pages
The Short Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut (Contributions to the Study of American Literature) by Peter J. Reed on 21 pages
Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (Literary Conversations Series) by William Rodney Allen on 15 pages

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	68% buy the item featured on this page: Mother Night: A Novel 4.8 out of 5 stars (106) $10.20
	10% buy Cat's Cradle: A Novel 4.5 out of 5 stars (386) $10.20
	10% buy Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday!: A Novel 4.4 out of 5 stars (260) $10.20
	8% buy The Sirens of Titan: A Novel 4.6 out of 5 stars (166) $10.20

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Customer Reviews

106 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (106 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A novel about serving evil too openly and good too secretly, April 24, 2003

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

To the best of my knowledge, there really is no other writer quite like Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Mother Night appears to be a rather straightforward, albeit quirky, novel at first glance, but as one delves down into the heart of Vonnegut's prose one finds grounds for contemplation of some of life's most serious issues. This novel is the first-hand account of Howard Campbell, Jr., a most remarkable character. Campbell is an American-born citizen who moved to Germany as a child and became the English-speaking radio mouthpiece for Nazi Germany during World War II. In the fifteen years since the end of the war, he has been living an almost invisible life in a New York City attic apartment. He misses his German wife Helga who died in the war, sometimes thinks about his pre-war life as a successful writer of plays and poems, and perhaps just waits for history to find him once again. As we begin the novel, he has been found and is writing this account from a jail cell in Israel, awaiting trial for his crimes against humanity. While he is reviled by almost everyone on earth as an American Nazi traitor, the truth is that he was actually an agent working for the American government during the war; this is a truth he cannot prove, though. Thus, in this 1961 novel, the hero is ostensibly a Nazi war criminal.

The primary moral of Mother Night, Vonnegut tells us in his introduction, is that "we are what we pretend to be" and should thus be pretty darned careful about what we are pretending to be (a secondary moral being the less enlightening statement "when you're dead, you're dead"). In the eyes of the entire world, Campbell is exactly what he pretended to be during the war, a traitorous Nazi purveyor of propaganda who mocked and demoralized allied troops as well as regular citizens. Internally, Campbell hardly knows what he is anymore; he claims no country, no political values, wanting only to live in a "nation of two" with his beloved wife Helga once again. A series of significant events forces Campbell out of the cocoon of his past fifteen years, and his thoughts and actions along the way provide big juicy morsels of food for thought: taking personal responsibility for one's actions, the harsh truths of war and peace, the sometimes vast differences between truth and fact, individual redemption before self and society, finding direction and a purpose in a world gone mad, etc. Vonnegut's scythe-like dark humor cuts deeper than mere satire, aiming directly at some of the darker sections of the human heart, areas which most individuals too often ignore or refuse to acknowledge. The gallows humor can be quite funny on the surface, but it is in actuality a scalpel which Vonnegut wields to open up the heart and soul of the reader for self-examination. Mother's Night, the title of which is taken from Goethe's Faust, is a relatively short but very powerful novel.

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hilariously addictive and heart-breakingly poignant book, January 24, 2001

By	"lilstarofdavid" (Westerville, OH USA) - See all my reviews

"My name is Howard W. Campbell, Jr. I am an American by birth, a Nazi by reputation, and a nationless person by inclination" are the opening words to Kurt Vonnegut's tale of an American playwright living in Germany who, once World War II begins, becomes a Nazi radio propagandist. He becomes infamous for his disgustingly brutal radio shows which distributed wicked Nazi propaganda. He was thoroughly hated by the Americans, and loved by the Nazis. But there is one thing that you should know about Howard W. Campbell. He is an American spy. His radio shows are the medium for transmitting secret codes out of Germany to aid the American cause in the war. He was one of the most effective spies of World War II, and one of the only ones to survive the war. But after the war, he is simply discarded in a small New York attic apartment, with enough money to live the rest of his days there, but with no more direction to his life. He lives his life simply there, away from civilization and anyone who might recognize him as a war criminal, until a white supremacist discovers where he is located, and he once again must face his past. Mother Night is not a traditional war book, for rather than concentrating on the brutal aspects of combat, it focuses heavily on the equally gruesome subject of hate. Vonnegut also dissects the schizophrenic mind of a spy after the war has ended who has not only lost the trust of everyone he loves, but most importantly, his identity altogether, as he realizes he is a "nationless" person. The narrator is constantly questioning his identity, which has been muddled by his spy experiences. Vonnegut also discusses the minds of the Nazis, how ordinary and often intelligent men and women could be prompted to become the vicious killing machines that they were during World War II

Mother Night is a sharp, funny book thats humor is both satiric and farcical. It is a very entertaining read with twists and turns at every corner, including a surprise ending that is sure to catch the reader off-guard. Although Kurt Vonnegut is more well-known for his novels such as Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle, Mother Night is truly an overlooked classic that offers an entertaining read for not just fans of war books, but any reader looking for a hilariously addictive and heart-breakingly poignant book.

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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a probing tale, January 23, 2001

By	NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"Mother Night" by Kurt Vonnegut is a probing tale (a parable perhaps) about the difference between appearances and reality.

"Mother Night" is actually one of three books I have recently read (or reread) that deal with the dichotomy between appearance and truth. "Mother Night" is clearly the least subtle book as far as advancing an argument...yet it is far and away the most powerful. Vonnegut navigates this ethical minefield in an entertaining, yet sobering manner.

"Mother Night" tells the story of an American playwright who is enlisted to be a spy within World War II Germany. The playwright becomes part of the upper crust of Nazi society. Working as a talk-radio personality, he encodes top secret information in his pro-Nazi broadcasts. In so doing, he helps to bring about the eventual victory of the Allies.

The war-time story-line of "Mother Night" is told in retrospect by the playwright who is living a secluded life in 1960's New York City. The reason he must live in hiding is that his Allied contact person during the war disappeared. He has no one left to testify to the fact that he worked for the Allies.

The story takes off in grand Vonnegutian style as the "protagonist" of the story is discovered simultaneously by Nazi-hunters, Soviet agents, white supremacists, and a woman claiming to be his ex wife.

Through it all, Vonnegut asks hard questions about what action, motivation, intent, and reality have to do with reality.

I found this book to be eye-opening. It is engagingly told; containing passages of great beauty, sorrow, and even humor. I recommend this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Die Hard Kurt Vonnegut Fan
I read many of Kurt Vonnegut's books back in the 70's, but I never read "Mother Night." I look forward to rectifying that situation. As usual, Amazon. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Denim Diva

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Vonnegut's Finest Books
Kurt Vonnegut was treated by psychiatrists but, since I'm a veteran, too, I believe his troubles might have been entirely PTSD. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Jenny Hanniver

5.0 out of 5 stars Vonnegut's guide to purgatory
Kurt Vonnegut must be the most deceptive author in history. His books have such a lithe and jocular style to them they feel like beach-reads, but you always finish them with a... Read more

Published 6 months ago by S. Perry

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Vonnegut's intriguing writing style continues in Mother Night. Very fat and interesting characters coupled with a precise probing of issues of conventional morality lead to a... Read more

Published 6 months ago by A. Mudge

5.0 out of 5 stars Radio free genocide, but maybe it's not his fault
They talk about the banality of evil, but what about the banality of good? What if the only way you can do good is by being so perfectly evil that nobody would ever expect you to... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Michael Battaglia

4.0 out of 5 stars Heil Vonnegut....
I began reading Vonnegut on the suggestion of one of my English teachers. Thus, far I have read six of his novels. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Brett M. Holden

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated Vonnegut
When you hear about the best works of Vonnegut, Mother Night rarely makes the list. But really, I think it's actually one of his best books. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Prudence

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story With Conscience
Intellectuals don't always resonate with intellect and occasionally the wisdom from the common man or woman far exceeds that of those who profess to be oh-so-educated and learned... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Kregg Jorgenson

5.0 out of 5 stars Consumed the novel in a day
The great thing about Vonnegut is that he makes it very easy to read his books, with or without an education. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Misty S. Carr

5.0 out of 5 stars What do you expect?
If you've never read a Vonnegut book before, then just go ahead and put this into your cart. Also add his other titles because you'll want to pick up another one after you've... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Erik S.

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