Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut (1973)
“A novel in which the author enters his own book, sets his characters free, and dismantles America with crayon drawings and the vocabulary of a child.”
Short Summary
Dwayne Hoover, a wealthy Pontiac dealer in Midland City, Ohio, is going insane. Kilgore Trout, a destitute science fiction writer, is traveling cross-country to attend an arts festival. When Dwayne reads Trout's novel — which argues that everyone except the reader is a robot with no free will — his madness detonates. He goes on a violent rampage, injuring eleven people. Meanwhile, the narrator reveals himself as Kurt Vonnegut, the god of this fictional universe, who has come to Midland City to set Kilgore Trout free from his authorial control. It ends with Vonnegut crying and Trout screaming 'Make me young.'
Detailed Summary
The novel operates on two converging tracks. Dwayne Hoover is a Pontiac dealer in Midland City, Ohio — a pillar of the community who owns a Holiday Inn, a Burger Chef franchise, and a shopping center. He is also losing his mind. His wife committed suicide by drinking Drano. His son Bunny plays piano...