Breakfast of Champions

Alltogether a briliant read, Happy 50th Kurt.

And so on.


Beyond the Postmodern Pleasurezone   July 5, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is it, this is the book that proves that literature still has something to offer. Vonnegut's style easily peaks in Breakfast of Champions, with the most humorous pathos known to man, making even satiric masters like Swift green with envy. Through his almost child like perception of modernity, Vonnegut strips down life to its bare essentials, and shows humanity for the inhumane thing it is. Vonnegut is the only man who can make me laugh whilst depressing me at the same.


The Meeting of "Fabulously Well-To-Do" and "Doodley-Squat"   April 16, 2004
Michael Crane
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

You know that anything goes once you pick up a work by the zany and terrific Kurt Vonnegut. The man knows how to dish up satire like none other. He'll spew out his complaints about the government, the world, people, etc., and instead of making it sound like a bunch of inane ranting he uses all of that to create a crazy world filled with outrageous characters and situations. "Breakfast of Champions" is an off-the-wall novel that is about 300 pages of pure hilarity and comedic chaos. Some of the most outrageous characters lie within this masterpiece.

Listen: This story revolves mainly around two characters. There's Kilgore Trout who is an aging and bitter sci-fi writer that nobody has ever heard of (except for one person). His stories have only appeared in very adult magazines. So naturally, he has "doodley-squat" to show for it. The other person that this story is about is a car dealer by the name of Dwayne Hoover, a man that everyone in town considers a "fabulously well-to-do" person. Dwayne is losing his mind and is ever so gracefully slipping into the cozy and wonderful world of insanity. What pushes him over the edge will take place when the two meet and Hoover takes one of Trout's literary works as reality. The results are unforgettable and hilariously disturbing in this dark and offbeat tale of the flawed human beings who are destroying Mother Earth.

This amazingly written book is completely ADDICTING. I easily finished it within a week. Once you start you do not want to stop reading until you have finished. Very rarely does a book have the power to make me laugh aloud so frequently and carelessly. People must've thought I was on something when they saw me laugh so uncontrollably while reading this in public. Vonnegut's commentary as the overall storyteller provides us with such an enriching voice that really is the star of the story. He has also created some of the most memorable and certifiably insane characters ever to be witnessed by the world of fiction. Vonnegut cleverly attacks everything that is wrong in society and he does it in such a funny and witty way. His illustrations also add a lot to the story as well.

Reading a book like "Breakfast of Champions" reminds me why I want to be a writer. It also reminds me why we read in the first place. It is definitely a classic that stands on its own and will never EVER be duplicated. If you're looking for a "fabulously well-to-do" satirist that will never conform to the norm, Kurt Vonnegut is your man. If you have not read this book yet, I highly encourage you to check it out a.s.a.p.! It may not be your ordinary novel, but that's more the reason to read it, now isn't it? A definite new favourite that I will read again and again. -Michael Crane


undeniable truth.   January 25, 1999
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This story is the closest we will get to an explanation of the author's deceptively simple fiction. A riot of jokes and prophecy, cartoons and pathos, the book is an antidote to a world which has convinced us of the possibility of a beginning, a middle and an end.

Every detail is equally trivial and equally certain; each action is described with balanced judgement and unquenchable humanity.

The book's character is neatly underscored by a startlingly simple defence of modern art which refuses to take the easy route of condemnation and surprises even its author. All human life is here: kindness, stupidity, pain, smut, boredom and laughter - it's a hugely enjoyable read - but the final words will leave you with an ache in side and a terrible sense of loss.


Painfully true, and absolutely magnificent.   August 10, 2001
Gary Barnett
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This has to be the most hilarious piece of fiction I have ever read. The way that Vonnegut creates such interesting characters in order to show the failings of America is superb. No satirist has ever come this close to portraying America, and society in general, with such humour and verve. This book kept me up until 2 in the morning, as I could not put it down.