Mother Night

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrated by: Victor Bevine

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.

As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of Kurt Vonnegut's book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Gay Talese about the life and work of Kurt Vonnegut – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.

This production is part of our Audible Modern Vanguard line, a collection of important works from groundbreaking authors.

©1966 Kurt Vonnegut (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer...a zany but moral mad scientist." ( Time)

A murky shade of grey

“I had hoped, as a broadcaster, to be merely ludicrous, but this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings so reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate. So many people wanted to believe me! Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.”

In "Mother Night," Vonnegut takes the mother of all black and white scenarios - an accused Nazi on trial in Israel for war crimes against humanity - and adds levels of complexity and nuance until it is a very murky shade of grey. Howard W. Campbell, Jr. is an American actor living in war-time Germany when he is recruited by the CIA as an American spy. He becomes a radio broadcaster, a propogandist for the SS, helping to fan the flames of hatred and unrest. Within his broadcasts, he includes coded messages to American intelligence. But he becomes so effective in his position, plays his role so well, that it soon becomes unclear which side he's on. Campbell himself is taken aback by his own success in Germany and amongst the Nazis, for (as the quote above illustrates) he layered it on so thick in his broadcasts that he never thought such vile would ever be taken seriously by society, let alone swallowed and digested whole. After the war ends, the CIA refuses to acknowledge their relationship with him for fear of aligning themselves with such a notorious Nazi war criminal, while all the time he had been following their directives, sacrificing his whole self - life, reputation, career, marriage - for a sense of moral patriotism, rather than patriotism connected to country, which he wholly rejected.

“You hate America, don't you?'
"That would be as silly as loving it,' I said. 'It's impossible for me to get emotional about it, because real estate doesn't interest me. It's no doubt a great flaw in my personality, but I can't think in terms of boundaries. Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies. I can't believe that they mark the end or the beginning of anything of real concern to a human soul. Virtues and vices, pleasures and pains cross boundaries at will.”

This book takes a close, questioning look at moral culpability, individual reasoning, and personal responsibility. What is the nature of his guilt, if any, both in the eyes of society and in his own conscience? What is the responsibility of society towards the individual? What are the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions, and does our righteous reasoning make them justified? This slim story raises many questions with no easy answers. It is brilliant.

Wow! Ending made me gasp!

This story began interesting, held my attention pretty much throughout but dang! The end literally made me gasp!

I did not expect that.

All I can say is WOW!

Missing editor's note and introduction

This is missing the original editor's note and the introduction written later by Vonnegut, I think both are crucial for a full appreciation of the book. The original editor's note was part of the framing to the story and established Vonnegut as the "editor" of Campbell's memoirs.

The performance is very good, though sometimes the simple style with the exclusive use of "I said" and "he said" for dialogue can be a little annoying when narrated.

This book is amazing and one of my favorites. I was not very impressed with the interview at the end, I wish the book had the editor's note and introduction instead.

Outstanding

outstanding novel by Kurt Vonnegut, very captivating plot. Also, the narrator, Victor Bevine must be appreciated - great work! (especially the german accent imitation)

Amazing book

This book is amazing! Really touches on some powerful meanings and makes you think hard and question yourself. Would suggest for all people to read this book!

Who are you?

This is one of Vonnegut’s best in my opinion. The story of who is the real Howard W Campbell is a question that everyone in the book faces, especially the ones who know the whole truth about the character, including himself. You’re forced to ask the question, are you who you pretend to be.

“We are what we pretend to be”

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” This is one of the most often quoted of Kurt Vonnegut’s writings and one of the central themes of this selection. Because it is revealed early in the book that the main character and storyteller pretends to be the broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during WWII, it’s not much of a spoiler. It is also revealed early on that he is an agent who sends coded messages to the Americans in his broadcasts. Therein is the tension in the book between the “good” and “evil” roles the protagonist must play. And, there are layers here to the good and evil dichotomy: do the ends justify the means and how does society and history deal with those individuals who do evil things to achieve righteous goals.

This all sounds like a book that might be rather reflective and philosophical and, for some, this may turn out to but need not be the case. The book starts off simply enough and contains incidentals that are seemingly tangential but all of which interweave and come together in the end with a rather unexpected conclusion. The story is haunting from beginning to end. If you are anything like me, this is a tale that will stay with you for days after finishing it. This is simple and beautiful prose about some of the complexity of our human nature.

The book is more meta-fiction than historical fiction. While the book has been characterized as black comedy, for me the book was deadly serious. I would not even call it gallows humor. When it comes to this time and place in history, I find nothing humorous nor do I think that the author intended that. The book does not seem to purport to dramatize, with any accuracy, core events that actually happened in way of the protagonist. The historical figures, places and things relative to WWII are there but, with regard to this Nazi propagandist, spy for the U.S. around whom the whole story revolves, no such person existed.

One of the best narrators of audiobooks, Victor Bevine, reads the book literally with short bursts of “..,” he said, “..,” she said, “..,” he said” that were totally distracting. If this were not such an incredible book, I would have been totally put off by this kind of nonsense production and I cannot help but forgive this shortcoming. In fact, Mr. Bevine is a great performer of different character voices and this kind of “he said” reading was not necessary. His performance of various characters in the Hyperion Cantos is almost without peer. This must have been a decision on the part of the producer or publisher Audible Modern Vanguard but it was a decision that did not do this wonderful book justice. Strange that the word modern is in the publisher’s name. This is not the way modern audiobooks should be produced. That aside, the book is still highly recommended.

Story and Writing: 5 Stars
Narrator: 5 Stars
Decision to use He said-, She said-type of production: 0 Stars

Timeless and Insightful

Refer to this 1962 dark comedy for a surprisingly apt description of our current political climate. There is more than a hint of Stephen Miller in Howard Campbell, the main character, although the latter is more redeemable. This is not a feel-good story, but it does offer a satisfying, insightful experience.

Like candide with Nazis.

A beautiful rollercoaster of love, loss, laughs, and Russian spies.

Great quality, perfect reading. It went by too quick!

depresively wonderful

Vonnegut writes like a plate of spaghetti. Try to follow a single line: you may get lost, But in the end it's all good.