A man without a country

A man without a country
By Kurt Vonnegut (2005)

I am reading this book for the 2nd time. The first time a week or so after Vonnegut died. I went to the library, this book was among the displayed, and I borrowed it since I had never before read or even seen it.

Chapter 1: As a kid I was the youngest

Vonnegut was the youngest member of his family. He says that the youngest is always a jokemaker, because a joke is the only way to enter the conversation. He then discusses comedy and what is funny and what is not funny. He claims that occasional obscene words are the only shocks he uses. Some things are not funny, for example there is not one funny thing about Auschwitz. On the other hand, total catastrophes can be very amusing. For example the Lisbon earthquake, as showed by Voltaire (I have read this, maybe 15 years ago, and I cannot remember one detail!)

He then goes on to discuss that humor is almost a physiological response to fear. The text ends with a story from the bombing of Dresden. You will have to read it for yourself. It teaches me something about being a human being and having a sense of humor.