This is the best Vonnegut I've read so far. American Nazi Howard W. Campbell, Jr. is awaiting trial on war crimes. A traitor to the American people, Campbell is responsible for the deliberate spread of damaging propaganda throughout Germany and its occupied territories during World War II. He is an evil, dangerous man who is undoubtedly guilty of high treason. 
 Or is he? 
 As the account of Campbell's life in Germany unfolds, much is revealed about his motives, the benign sequence of events leading to his becoming a member of the Nazi Party, and the identity of the actual organization from which he draws his paycheck: United States intelligence. So as it turns out, Howard W. Campbell, Jr. is a spy! He is an American hero, wrongly accused and undoubtedly deserving of complete exoneration. 
 Or is he? 
 The distinction here between villain and hero is a line that is wonderfully blurred by Vonnegut, who delivers his story with perfunctory prose and offers up one surprising twist after another until the novel's depressing conclusion. Interestingly, Vonnegut introduces this story with a quote that comes to define Campbell and the ultimate "moral" of Mother Night perfectly: 
 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. 
 As an aside, I've heard a lot of reviewers refer to Campbell as a double agent. Although I'm not exactly sure what qualifies for "double agency," I do think it involves being a secret member of the secret organization you are trying to secretly infiltrate...so you can learn their secrets. So having cleared that up, I think it's more likely that Campbell is just a plain old mole.