In the past month or so, I read two memoirs Kurt Vonnegut's "A Man without a Country" and Rian Milan's "My Traitor's Heart." Ironically, I finally got to reading Milan's memoir in a hotel airport outside Jo'burg! during a sleepless layover, and I agree that it is very good. The Vonnegut reads very well, like most Vonnegut, and with the exception of a few points that are repetitive and old-man rants, makes some nice insights.

The memoirs have a surprisingly similar outlook on life, which is that human's generally don't behave well. Vonnegut says he had given up on humans; and Milan critiques most people rather harshly. He more or less smashes white liberals for being against apatheid, poverty, inequality etc. but never really trying to understand their orgins nor experience how shitty it really is, but he also can't get behind African life. But both also contrast their pessimism with exceptions. Vonnegut reminisces on Eugene V Debs and other people who stick out in his mind as great humans. Milan focuses the last third of his memoir on a couple who move into Zululand to build an ecologically and socially sustainable dream farm, which makes for a beautiful story.

Also, Vonnegut's book was written before "No C0untry for Old Men" so he is not playing off of that.

Ari