Chapter 8, "Do You Know What a Humanist Is?" Summary

The beginning of this chapter answers the question in the title. A humanist is an individual who believes in justice, helping other people, and living honorably while not believing in an afterlife of any kind. Vonnegut explains that he is a humanist, as were his parents, his brother and his sister, and his grandparents. Kurt Vonnegut reveals that he is, in fact, the Honorary President of the American Humanist Association, having taken the place of Isaac Asimov after his death. Vonnegut discusses how it is a pointless position, but he spoke at a memorial for Asimov and opened with a line about Isaac being in heaven. The place laughed so hard, it took five minutes for him to move to the next line.

Not being one to...