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Breakfast of Champions
 

Breakfast of Champions

by Kurt Vonnegut

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane." So reads the tombstone of downtrodden writer Kilgore Trout, but we have no doubt who's really talking: his alter ego Kurt Vonnegut. Health versus sickness, humanity versus inhumanity--both sets of ideas bounce through this challenging and funny book. As with the rest of Vonnegut's pure fantasy, it lacks the shimmering, fact-fueled... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  satire,  humor,  science fiction,  literature (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Tinky
  • Rated 4 stars

“Might be his best loved book.

I don't intend this as a negative criticism, but Vonnegut's novels are less individual, memorable works of art than links in a chain, an ongoing, endlessly looping conversation. The subject rarely changes, each book blends together in the memory, the details dissolve, and what one is left with is the palpable sense of the chief character throughout - Vonnegut himself, with his wonderful narrative voice, bracingly humane, skeptical, and wryly funny.”

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Didn’t Like It

Jonica
  • Rated 2 stars

“This was the first Vonnegut book I picked up, and I had some pretty high expectations going in because so many people seem to love his work. I was severely disappointed. At first I thought it was OK. Kinda funny but nothing I would actually laugh out loud about. But it just got progressively worse until the author wrote himself into the book and turned me off completely. I wonder if I had grabbed another title for my first Vonnegut if I would've been able to enjoy him better, but I guess...”

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Community:
  • Rated 4.142974 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Zero

    zero said:

    “Just for fun - Vonnegut graded his own work:

    * Player Piano: B
    * The Sirens of Titan: A
    * Mother Night: A
    * Cat's Cradle: A-plus
    * God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A
    * Slaughterhouse-Five: A-plus
    * Welcome to the Monkey House: B-minus
    * Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D
    * Breakfast of Champions: C
    * Slapstick: D
    * Jailbird: A
    * Palm Sunday: C”

    posted Thursday, May 8 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Derek H

    derek h said:

    “Don't listen to Edna! Cat's Cradle was great, Breakfast of Champions is better.

    But Sirens of Titan trump both.

    Though I suppose it's silly to argue about which awesome book is more awesome...er.”

    posted Thursday, May 8 2008
  • jenn

    jenn said:

    “Cat's Cradle is better? Hm, will def. have to pick that one up, because I think this was one of the best books I've ever read! Very excited for more!”

    posted Thursday, May 8 2008
  • ednabrown

    ednabrown said:

    “I love Vonnegut, but this is not my favorite. Cat's Cradle is my absolute favorite Vonnegut. It has been a while since I've read Breakfast of Champions, but I remember the drawings, especially. ”

    posted Thursday, September 20 2007
  • dlasken

    dlasken said:

    “These comments warm my heart! I wish I hadn't read the stuffy Amazon comments, though. I would go beyond the one defender to say that Breakfast is my #1 favorite Vonnegut book, after Galapagos, a dry and hilarious tale of love, folly, deception and Darwin.”

    posted Thursday, September 20 2007
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