Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (1973) I re-read this as research because I’m working on a story set in 1974 and I wanted to refer to this book—one of the characters reads it—and also, maybe it would have something to tell me about that time, beyond what I remember. Kurt Vonnegut has always been inspiring, even more so when I was younger because his books break rules (inserting himself whenever he feels like it, and using crude drawings), and seem like they’re having fun (you want to assume he is, as well). The structure is inviting and the language accessible, and they both seem easy to understand… and impossible to understand fully. There’s an “or” title, which I always like—it’s: “or Goodbye Blue Monday”—and I’ve vowed to always title things that way—but seldom do. The story here is leading up to the meeting of the owner of a car dealership, in Ohio, Dwayne Hoover, and Kilgore Trout, a failed science fiction writer who first appeared in some previous books. I liked him here—we get some summaries of his books and stories—which all sound insane, yet whenever he interacts with anyone it’s the blandest, most inane exchange imaginable. Hoover is really pretty entertaining because he’s unpredictable (he’s losing his mind)—well, up to a point, of course—to the point where he’s just sad and scary. I’m not even going to begin to go into themes. I wish I could say this book is dated and nostalgic, but most of it seems to refer to our present world even more acutely than I imagine it did back then. Taken one way, it could be profoundly depressing. But you can choose to laugh; you have to.

4.10.25