Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
If This Isn't Nice, What Is? cover art

If This Isn't Nice, What Is?

By: Kurt Vonnegut
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Scott Brick
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £2.79

Buy Now for £2.79

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Slaughterhouse-Five cover art
The Sirens of Titan cover art
The Year of Living Danishly cover art
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity cover art
Tales of a Female Nomad cover art
Pale Blue Dot cover art
The Power of I AM and the Law of Attraction cover art
The Leader Who Had No Title cover art
God, Faith, and Reason cover art
Happy cover art
Atlas Shrugged cover art
The Alchemist cover art
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry cover art
Cosmos cover art
Napoleon Hill in His Own Voice cover art
Keep Moving cover art

Editor reviews

This selection of commencement speeches from legendary author Kurt Vonnegut will prove a thoroughly comforting companion for recent graduates as they move out into the so-called real world and attempt to determine their own place within that often overwhelming realm.

Vonnegut's advice, dispensed at countless graduation ceremonies over the course of his life, is by turns moving and comical, indelibly stamped with his unique outlook on the world, and voice actors Kevin T. Collins and Scott Brick take great pains to capture his distinctive authorial tone in their performance. Vonnegut is sometimes sardonic, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes straightforward, but he is always empathetic, a fact well-reflected in Collins and Brick's thoughtful narration of this inspiring work.

Summary

Master storyteller and satirist Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most in-demand commencement speakers of his time. For each occasion, Vonnegut’s words were unfailingly unique, insightful, and witty, and they stayed with audience members long after graduation.

As edited by Dan Wakefield, this book reads like a narrative in the unique voice that made Vonnegut a hero to readers and listeners of all ages. At times hilarious, razor-sharp, freewheeling, and deeply serious, these reflections are ideal for anyone undergoing what Vonnegut would call their "long-delayed puberty ceremony" - marking the passage from student to full-time adult.

This book makes the perfect gift for high school or college graduates - or for parents and grandparents who remember Vonnegut fondly and want to connect with him in a new context.

©2013 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Copyright Trust (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about If This Isn't Nice, What Is?

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    143
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    137
  • 4 Stars
    46
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    126
  • 4 Stars
    40
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Confusing!

Although I did enjoy KV's commentary, I found it hard to follow (not from a logic standpoint, but that it seemed to be snippets of speeches that followed no logical flow). I think overall, this would have been better presented by themes rather than talks.

The narrator was good.

I've read KV's works before. Although I don't agree 100% with his POV, all the time, he is a legend of our time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

absolute pap and general know it all meanderings

claptrap, bilge and an unlistenable dirge from somebody who loved to prattle on. If it wasn't free then I'd be angry, as it is I'm just mildly vexed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a delight to the ears

It goes without saying that Vonneguts words are all absolutely masterful. An amazing guy. I only got this as I saw it was £2 and didn't expect much but I'm so glad I did. I'm sure I'll be listening to this many more times yet

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gems from Kurt Vonnegut

Really amazing thoughts from one of the best writers. Everyone should read / listen to this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"

)
"Life is no way to treat an animal."
Taken from lectures given by Kurt Vonnegut, mostly to graduating students, this is a gentle look at his own sometimes eccentric but always very reasonable outlook on life as well as a brief biography of the man himself.

Beautifully narrated by Scott Brick, Vonnegut seems to come alive, talking to us, his audio audience. Would have been five stars but for the repetition towards the end of the book. Definitely recommended - and free to download with Audible plus.
'Goddam it, you've got to be kind'

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely loved it!

This is the first Kurt Vonnegut book I’ve read and it was so enjoyable. So frank and honest. Bleak honesty but also inspirational.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent life advice with entertaining delivery.

Excellent life advice with entertaining delivery. The content was well shared between the two narrators.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

i wish I had the same

Same wit and same way of talking. I imagine he was quite an inspiration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great but lots repeated

I wish they had edited it so we didn’t get the slightly different retelling of the same story or advice. Otherwise great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well read recount of Vonnegut's wisdom to youth

Obviously, it's wisdom for everyone. Profound and very human view of the world and the rules for making life worth living.
Excellently narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!