“Marvelous . . . [Vonnegut] wheels out all the complaints about America and makes them seem fresh, funny, outrageous, hateful and lovable.”—The New York TimesIn Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut … murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.
“Free-wheeling, wild and great . . . uniquely Vonnegut.”—Publishers Weekly
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I sometimes Kurt Vonnegut a little repetitive; he has themes that he likes to, and is brilliant, at exploring but, to me, get a little stale.
Breakfast of Champions though, is so weird and hilarious that I couldn’t stop reading it. The town he created sounds like such a sad, lame place, and yet is mesmerising. It’s like reading about some horrific accident, blow by blow – it’s awful, but you can’t stop.
The real star was the writing style. Just the way he would go off on tangents, throw in obscure facts and supply little diagrams made the whole novel just so original and brilliant.
This would be a great, easy going holiday read for anyone this summer. And a great place to start you rVonnegut journey
I can still vividly remember reading this book when I was fourteen years old – I annoyed the hell out of my friends, as I read from frequently it at lunchtimes. (When wasn’t laughing hysterically.) I joked about how my Zesty Cheese Doritos were nothing but “bad chemicals” for my brain. This book – I’m not sure it can be technically called a novel because it’s so meta and post-modern – blew my brain wide open! Vonnegut outlines the plot of the whole thing in the first chapter. He fills the book with ruminations on free will, suicide, social and economic cruelty, many of which are savagely funny. There are actual doodles that are part of the book. I mean, at one point Vonnegut sketches a simple line drawing of an anus.
I never had a chance.
Not one of his better books.
Wonderfully written just like every Vonnegut book I’ve read from Johnny got his Gun to Cat’s Cradle
There are deep and thought provoking passages followed by the syphallitic ramblings as inane as those of Dwayne Hoover.
Strange sense of humor!
No plot – nothing that held my attention
First book I quit reading before the end of the book
I didn’t read very far into it. Found it boring
It has great reviews….but perhaps we are too close to his reality it does not seem so funny…
Engrossing, funny, and touching, this is Vonnegut’s most surprising and personal book. Just sit back and let him take you on the ride.
Possibly the best book I ever read. I have read it several times.
Classic Vonnegut, bringing closure to a number of characters from previous novels.
Vonnegut sees the irony and farce of our country and government. He shows the inhumanity and senselessness of war, along with the whimsy and compassion in us all
As always a pleasure to read or in this case re-read after a very long time. The authors humor, creativity and unique way of writing and crafting characters and plots made it fun to rediscover him again after forty years. When I was a young man they used to put Vonnegut’s books in the SciFi section which often was in a corner at the back of the store. I think a paperback release of a recently published hardcover could be bought for somewhere between $1.99 and $2.99 US at the B. Daltons Bookstore at the mall where I worked. Took me a minute to dig deep enough to retrieve the memory of that now defunct chain of book sellers.
Vonnegut is my favorite American author, easily. This was the 13th book from him that I’ve read since 2016, novels, short stories, essay – some truly great ones. This one was the most disappointing by far. Not fun or funny, the expected satirical burns were weak and it left me cold and most of the second half was a dash to just get it over with. You can’t win them all. I’ll always encourage people to read Vonnegut, but look to his other books, this one just didn’t work.