Thread: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

I've never read a book by Vonnegut before, and I think this was the best book for me to start with. Cat's Cradle may have been a better choice. As I read the book, I wondered if this was just some big joke on the reader; that since this was his seventh book that he could go just scribble down anything he wanted and it would still sell, on reputation. I like reading satire, but the plot vonnegut came up was pretty weak, although there were a few good laughs. Sadly, I got more laughs from some of the drawings, like the anus, then the actual story. To me half the story was filler, just so the book would be long enough, as I didn't see much point in Kilgore trouts part of the story, which just talks about how he goes to meet Dwayne. The story is told in first person, but most of the time it focuses on the 2 main characters, which are Kilgore Trout, and Dwayne Hoover. So the story is pretty much told in third person. Vonnegut also inserts himself into the story; he is the narratar. I disliked the idea, and felt it a cliche idea, but maybe when it was first published, it wasn't, but reading it now it was.

I too haven't read any of his books. May be its time to give his books a try!

Nooooooo! At least three and a half stars from me - at least! It's no Cat's Cradle, but BOC is still killer. Slaughter-House Five or Cat's Cradle are better, but still.

point five

I like Kurt's writing style. He seems to just sit down and write. I read this one a while ago and found it to be different from a lot of other stuff out there, mostly because of the style. 3 stars.

i love that book. I love his style, and it even inspired my story, Only Imagine in Critique and Advice, if you wanna glance at it.

Slaughter-House Five was excellent... I didn't like this one as much, but BOC was a different kind of book, so maybe they shouldn't be compared. It seemed like this one was meant more for Vonnegut to explore his characters than anything else.

Goddamn, in rapid succession this man's books get more and more depressing.

I'm only on chapter four of it so far, but I'm liking it a lot. Especially how he says he intends to clear his mind and abandon his other characters in the foreword. And then lo and behold Kilgore Trout is the first character mentioned. And then Eliot Rosewater pops in.


The drawings are... Interesting. I've never seen an actual adult novel (non-fantasy, anyways) with illustrations. And I've never seen any kind of novel with illustrations by the author drawn with only a felt tip pen. The anus was... Interesting. But there are other notable drawings, like the "wide open beaver" and the normal beaver.

To me, it seems like Vonnegut knows he's an established writer and can do what he wants, like gohn said. But it also seems like he feels as if his earlier social commentaries aren't helping the world, and so he's just giving in and writing a very blatant, very angry novel. And wow, it is very sarcastic and cynical.

I really love how he uses many of the same characters and ideas in his books, though (like the photo of two fat whores, one of which is trying—unsuccessfully—to have sex with a horse). It's very amusing, and I haven't read a single Vonnegut book that doesn't include Kilgore Trout.

I'm really liking this book! Best line:

"'This is a very bad book you're writing,' I said to myself behind my leaks.

'I know,' I said."