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Breakfast of Champions
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In 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 looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.
In 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 looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.
303 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1973
About the author
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
704 books38.2k followersKurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 16, 2022
M’agrada el sentit de l’humor de Vonnegut, i ha aconseguit fer-me riure bastant en molts moments del llibre, cosa que ja era el principal objectiu. El problema ha estat que m’ha faltat trobar-hi alguna cosa més, alguna trama una mica més sòlida a la qual aferrar-me i no un seguit de gags satírics entrellaçats. Hi buscava alguna cosa més.
April 21, 2023
L'he gaudit en alguns moments concrets però en general m'hi he arrastrat. Una petita decepció ja que li tenia moltes ganes. Potser és que l'he llegit massa tard, les crítiques socials i la manera d'explicar la história no m'han arribat a atrapar.
November 19, 2025
Una novel·la sense trama, o amb una trama mínima, quasi inexistent, pot ser molt bona. Com ocorre, per exemple, amb "Tango satànic", de László Krasznahorkai. No és el cas, tanmateix, d'aquest llibre insofrible. Una veu narrativa que pretén ser divertida i que no fa gràcia és una cosa patètica, com el monologuista que fa acudits davant el silenci del públic. Vonnegut exhibeix, ací, una gran imaginació. Però això va de la mà de l'avorriment més absolut. Branques dins de branques que detenen la història (sic), que s'allarguen per viaranys tan absurds com irrellevants. Un intent de joc metaliterari on l'autor interactua amb personatges, però que no ens trasllada cap reflexió, cap missatge. El propi autor, al pròleg, diu que el seu llibre és "malísimo" (en la traducció al castellà que jo he llegit). Confessa que l'obra és, més o menys, un exercici terapèutic per la seua banda, davant la crisi dels 50. Per al lector, o per a mi, almenys, una pèrdua de temps.
September 11, 2022
Al principi és confús perquè la narració és bastant dispersa i una mica extravagant, però a poc a poc tot va cobrant sentit. Hi ha aspectes surrealistes i s'hi entreveuen reflexions cíniques molt lúcides.
December 23, 2022
Gran decepció. Llibre que es mostra irreverent i bandarra, però que presenta un argument central fluixíssim submergit en un infinit de subtrames surrealistes que no porten enlloc. Suposadament m'hauria d'haver fet gràcia, però com a màxim l'he trobat entretingut.
January 10, 2025
Sorprenent en el seu plantejament en principi proper a la ciència ficció però evoluciona cap a un metaunivers creat pels propis personatges.
Entendridor, trist, clarivident i malgrat tot, amb personatges amb fàcil empatia.
Entendridor, trist, clarivident i malgrat tot, amb personatges amb fàcil empatia.
July 7, 2026
Clarament, no he connectat amb aquest llibre. Gens ni mica. I mira que m’hi he esforçat. No he entès l’humor de l’autor ni la seva història. En fi, no tot poden ser bones lectures. Això sí, si algú se l’ha llegit, m’agradarà comentar-lo.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews