Player Piano: A Novel
“A funny, savage appraisal of a totally automated American society of the future.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
Praise for Player Piano
“An exuberant, crackling style . . . Vonnegut is a black humorist, fantasist and satirist, a man disposed to deep and comic reflection on the human dilemma.”—Life
“His black logic . . . gives us something to laugh about and much to fear.”—The New York Times Book Review
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Community Reviews
Re-read.
Astonishingly prescient depiction of the death of the spirit of humanity under the dominance of machines and artificial intelligence. The plot is admittedly a little paint by numbers. It actually follows a lot of the same formula as Brave New World. The tone is relatively close too. And it is possibly the least Vonnegut novel by Vonnegut, which is ironic given it is his first published work. It doesn't have that precision and concision that his style is known for. It has his humor, but more spread out. And it has his usual style of observation - the queered observation of a common behavior in a way that makes it seem utterly alien - but again, more spread out and not as punchy as usual. It is more of a typical satire as opposed to a Vonnegut satire. And if you are familiar with certain tropes - back to the land, authenticity of craftsmanship, depression under bureaucratic office culture, a respected normie has a crisis and decides to rebel by joining a group of radicals - all largely formed in the 50s as a backlash to middle class life - it can feel a little predictable. But then you get the foreign dignitary visiting with an outside perspective on American life and speaking wise gibberish and it feels like vintage Vonnegut. Worth a read.
Astonishingly prescient depiction of the death of the spirit of humanity under the dominance of machines and artificial intelligence. The plot is admittedly a little paint by numbers. It actually follows a lot of the same formula as Brave New World. The tone is relatively close too. And it is possibly the least Vonnegut novel by Vonnegut, which is ironic given it is his first published work. It doesn't have that precision and concision that his style is known for. It has his humor, but more spread out. And it has his usual style of observation - the queered observation of a common behavior in a way that makes it seem utterly alien - but again, more spread out and not as punchy as usual. It is more of a typical satire as opposed to a Vonnegut satire. And if you are familiar with certain tropes - back to the land, authenticity of craftsmanship, depression under bureaucratic office culture, a respected normie has a crisis and decides to rebel by joining a group of radicals - all largely formed in the 50s as a backlash to middle class life - it can feel a little predictable. But then you get the foreign dignitary visiting with an outside perspective on American life and speaking wise gibberish and it feels like vintage Vonnegut. Worth a read.
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