Who was the real Kurt Vonnegut? For a man who so often seemed at pains to present himself as a pessimist or even a fatalist — he wrote in his final collection of essays, A Man without a Country (2005), of his goal to file a lawsuit against the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company for manufacturing products that promised to kill him but failed to deliver — Vonnegut could express, and often seemed to embody, the sweetest of sentiments.
Born in Indianapolis in 1922, he exuded an easygoing Midwestern courtliness. His voice was warm, resonant, and quick to cackle, and he …
This article appears as “A Cynic but a Softie” in the December 31, 2020, print edition of National Review.
Something to Consider
If you enjoyed this article, we have a proposition for you: Join NRPLUS. Members get all of our content (including the magazine), no paywalls or content meters, an advertising-minimal experience, and unique access to our writers and editors (conference calls, social-media groups, etc.). And importantly, NRPLUS members help keep NR going. Consider it?
If you enjoyed this article, and were stimulated by its contents, we have a proposition for you: Join NRPLUS.
