Mother Night
by Kurt Vonnegut, Victor Bevine, Avirama Golan · first published 1961
53% recommend47% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dark, thought-provoking novel about an American who poses as a Nazi propagandist to spy for the Allies, then gets very good at it; it probes whether we are defined by our hearts or our acts. Suits Vonnegut fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2008–2025Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut, María Medem, Irma Triginé, Daniel Martí i Colom
Recommended by 21 · mentioned by 4521 recommend · 45 mention21 recommend · 4521 recommend
2012–2025God bless you, Mr. Rosewater
Kurt Vonnegut, Gwilym Tonnerre, Eric Michael Summerer
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 135 recommend · 13 mention5 recommend · 135 recommend
2011–2026Timequake
Kurt Vonnegut, Lawrence Pressman, Eli Schreiber
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 167 recommend · 16 mention7 recommend · 167 recommend
2009–2026The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut, William Teason, Richard M. Powers
Recommended by 40 · mentioned by 6140 recommend · 61 mention40 recommend · 6140 recommend
2019–2026Our town
Thornton Wilder
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 54 recommend · 5 mention4 recommend · 54 recommend
2018–2025Modern man in search of a soul
Carl Gustav Jung
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 55 recommend · 5 mention5 recommend · 55 recommend
2015–2023Deadeye Dick
Kurt Vonnegut
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 64 recommend · 6 mention4 recommend · 64 recommend
2008–2026Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut, Martí Sales Sariola
Recommended by 65 · mentioned by 12765 recommend · 127 mention65 recommend · 12765 recommend
Kurt Vonnegut's works: The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, Player Piano, Jailbird, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater... Find the time to read Vonnegut.
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Kurt Vonnegut probably had the biggest impact on me. Mother Night and Timequake in particular. Two quotes I use all the time: "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." And "We are what we pretend to be, so we must…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life?” ↗…reading. If you liked "The Three Musketeers" then you might also like "Kidnapped" (Stevenson) and "Watership Down" (Adams)-- although probably few would consider that a classic. "Catch-22" (Heller), "Mother Night" and "Slaughterhouse Five" (Vonnegut), and "The Little Prince" (Exupery) are all "classic" books I've read many times over. I was not a huge fan of "Les Miserables" (Hugo) before I read it out loud with…
on “Ask HN: classic literature recommendations?” ↗White Teeth, Zadie Smith Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell Catch 22, Joseph Heller Timequake; Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Seven Pillars of Wisdom, TE Lawrence The Histories, Tacitus The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (caveat, it was most effective when I read it at 16) Redwall, Brian Jaques (got me…
on “Ask: Read a book that changed your life? Title?” ↗Antifragile - Nicholas Nassim Taleb Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut Pavarotti: My World - Luciano Pavarotti, William Wright Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - Jack Weatherford
on “Ask HN: What books have most influenced the way you see the world?” ↗…unemployed except a few specialists (primarily management and engineering). Cat's Cradle is closer in style/tone to Slaughterhouse-Five. While dark, both of them are, it's another really good read. Mother Night is among my favorites, if not my favorite, of his writings.
on “Ask HN: Best non-business books to read on vacation” ↗If you haven't read a Kurt Vonnegut book, I highly recommend that you do. The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Breakfast of Champions, and Slaughterhouse 5 are all great places to start.
on “Ask HN: Best non-technical book you've read lately? ” ↗…positions of wealth and influence when we have people at major disadvantage in the workforce for personal characteristics they had little or no agency in determining. My favorite Kurt Vonnegut book, Mother Night, is about the war crimes trial of a fictional all-star propagandist for the Nazi party. As the book proceeds, you learn that he was probably actually a double agent working for the US while not sincerely…
on “Workplace Equality Is Good for Business” ↗Kurt Vonnegut probably affected me the most. Particularly Mother Night. You are what you pretend to be.
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Also NurtureShock taught me a lot about parenting.
on “Ask HN: Which book helped you understand the world?” ↗This is a beautiful site done in such an original way. I just tried it on my favorite Vonnegut book: http://prosecraft.io/library/kurt-vonnegut/mother-night/
on “Kurt Vonnegut on 8 ‘shapes’ of stories” ↗…military historian - two rooms full of wall-to-wall bookcases on military history, some SciFi, and all kinds of other stuff. Not much light reading. Stoned and bored, I picked one off the shelf at random (Mother Night). I'm not sure how I missed Vonnegut's name on the cover, but I mistook it for one of his legitimate history books and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. Woah, we definitely never learned about this…
on “Kurt Vonnegut at 100” ↗…reading 4 Vonnegut pieces for the first time and am currently on my 5th. I was never assigned Vonnegut readings in school, but I have never felt more connected with an author while reading their work. Mother Night has been my favorite thus far, but I’m saving Slaughterhouse Five as the finale for my 20th book. As stated in the article, there is something unique about how Vonnegut can capture vast ideas and distill…
on “Kurt Vonnegut at 100” ↗…mother indiscriminately. Then I wondered whether silly-looking memes could be carrying secret messages, or just nasty hidden stuff. I decided to stop helping traffick in that stuff. Has anyone read/seen Mother Night? That's a real good example of how secret communication can hide in plain sight.
on “Help make mass surveillance of entire populations uneconomical” ↗Not OP, but as someone who found GEB pretentious, I think the most mind-blowing books I have read were probably Kurt Vonnegut. Mother Night and Timequake probably at the top.
on “Gödel, Escher, Bach is the most influential book in my life (2022)” ↗