# Breakfast of Champions

By Kurt Vonnegut

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/breakfast-of-champions-5730e885/

Kilgore Trout has written an enormous amount of science fiction without becoming anyone’s idea of a literary success. Then Dwayne Hoover, a car dealer in the Midwest, takes Trout’s fiction as truth. Being taken seriously turns out to be a worse prospect than being ignored.

## What makes it funny?

Trout expects the atmosphere to turn poisonous. He passes the time asking his parakeet Bill what kind of funeral he’d like and wondering about the bird’s religion. Bill, as far as Trout knows, will have only a few minutes’ head start on him.

### The comedy at work

Vonnegut gives Trout and Hoover the same ordinary habit: each talks to his pet at night. Hoover talks to his Labrador like an old friend. With Trout, a quiet evening at home turns into speculation about how soon the air will kill them both.

### Try this if…

The satire gets at big subjects, including racism and pollution, through details as small as those conversations. It suits a taste for bleak jokes and science fiction ideas turning up in an otherwise recognizable American setting.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy · Satire
- Format: Novel

## Sources & further reading

- Reading sample: [Dial Press: reading excerpt](https://penguinrandomhouselibrary.com/book?isbn=9780385334204)
- Publisher: [Dial Press: book description](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/184327/breakfast-of-champions-by-kurt-vonnegut)