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Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s unpublished writings about the human propensity for violence. With dark humor and no shortage of cynicism, each of the book’s 12 selections emphasizes the author’s lifelong preoccupation with war and peace – from his youth as a WWII soldier to his protests against the Vietnam War and his opposition to the conflict in Iraq.

The book’s title story is written in the form of a scientist-turned-demonologist’s solicitation for funds to continue his struggle against the oncoming Armageddon. Other stories include a boy who embodies mankind’s romance with warfare, soldiers who are more interested in their first civilian meal than their immediate responsibilities, and a medieval serf-cum-philosopher constrained by his social class and historical context. Appropriately, several of the pieces directly address Vonnegut’s time as a POW in Dresden, Germany—an experience made most famous in the semiautobiographical Slaughterhouse-Five. The collection also features works of fiction, comedy, satire and science fiction, as well as full-color prints of Vonnegut’s incisive artwork.

Despite the weighty subject matter, the author articulates his ideas with reliable accessibility; his writing is sardonic yet empathetic, critical yet unpretentious. And his eccentric humor is present throughout. This is, after all, the man who notoriously threatened to sue Pall Mall cigarettes for not killing him fast enough; who was publicly delighted by an eponymous asteroid; who strove to expose folly and yet fervently declared that humans could be innocent. It is this last attribute that best characterizes Armageddon in Retrospect, and it is also what makes Vonnegut both readable and eternally relevant.

Chelsea Bauch

From Time Out New York