Books: “Breakfast of Champions” by Kurt Vonnegut

Back in the 1980s, I used to see the late Kurt Vonnegut walking around Midtown Manhattan dressed very nattily. I vaguely remember having read “Slaughterhouse Five” in college, and I enjoyed the movie version which premiered at the 25th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize.

Thus I had high hopes of plunging into “Breakfast of Champions,” his 1973 novel. Unfortunately, curiosity sometimes does kill the cat. I regret to say I found this book terrible.

The title, taken from a 1930s slogan for Wheaties breakfast cereal, is first mentioned when a waitress serves the main character, Kilgore Trout, a Martini in the morning. How hilarious is that. (Don’t all answer at once.)

The story itself, set in the fictional American town of Midland City, centers on Dwayne Hoover, a mentally unstable Pontiac dealer, and Kilgore Trout, an aging science fiction author who remains largely unknown. The third major character is the author who as “the Creator” inserts himself into the narrative periodically.

The author has inserted his own juvenile illustrations throughout the text. To call them “amateurish” would be high praise.

As for the prose, it is filled with crude, unfunny references to penis and breast size, vulgar descriptions of homosexual acts and a prolific use of the N-word.

(Perhaps I’m mistaken but a book like this would never see the light of day in 2026.)

Some worshipful readers have defended the novel, explaining that Vonnegut was merely satirizing the absurdity of American consumerism. Others claim the story is being told from the perspective of an alien from outer space who was observing the rampant commercialism of America.

Vonnegut himself claimed that the novel was an attempt to clear his head of all the stories he had accumulated over the years. He said he was unhappy with “Breakfast of Champions” and gave it a C grade on a report card he made of his published work.

I won’t argue with the author. But I will point out the danger of grade inflation.

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