Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

(pb; 1961)

From the back cover

“Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. 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?”

Review

Mother is one of my all-time favorite reads. It is a waste-no-words, fast-paced novel: specifically it is a dark, sly, twisty, hilarious and masterful satire about human nature, love, nationalism and war. Reading this in this current political slash global climate gave Mother a special, timely resonance. This is an excellent, blistering book, one worth owning.

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The resulting film was released stateside on November 1, 1996. Keith Gordon directed the film, from Robert B. Weide’s screenplay.

Nick Nolte played Howard Campbell. Brawley Nolte played Young Howard Campbell. Sheryl Lee played Helga and Resi Noth. Kirsten Dunst played Young Resi Noth.

John Goodman played Major John Wirtanen. David Strathairn played Bernard B. O’Hare. Arye Gross played Dr. Abraham Epstein. Anna Berger played Epstein’s Mother. 

Bernard Behrens played Dr. Lionel Jones. Gerard Parkes played Father Keeley. Frankie Faison played The Black Fuehrer. Author Kurt Vonnegut, billed as Kurt Vonnegut Jr., played Sad Man on Street.