Breakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of Champions
Score Classic
What it's about
Kilgore Trout is an old, unknown science fiction writer whose stories appear only in dirty magazines. Dwayne Hoover is a successful car dealer in a Midwestern city who is quietly going insane. When the two meet at an arts festival, Dwayne reads one of Trout's novels and believes it's true, with violent results. Vonnegut himself appears as a character, and illustrates the book with his own felt-tip drawings.
Why it's worth reading
It spent 10 weeks at #1 on the New York Times list. It's a wild, bitter, very funny satire of America, unlike anything else.
You'll love it if you liked
Slaughterhouse-Five
Catch-22
A Confederacy of DuncesGood to know
It's crude on purpose, with drawings of body parts and blunt language about race and sex. It has little plot.
By the numbers
- Readers56 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller70 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #95 of the 313 science fiction books we rank
- #303 of the 762 classics we rank
- #989 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Funny, Thought-provoking, Uplifting
More by Kurt Vonnegut
The Sirens of Titan
Cat's Cradle
Slapstick
JailbirdIf you like this, read next
Infinite Jest
Gravity's Rainbow
Franny and Zooey
Gormenghast
Good Omens
Cat's EyeExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Breakfast of Champions worth reading?
Yes. It spent 10 weeks at #1 on the New York Times list. It ranks #989 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 73.1 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Breakfast of Champions about?
Kilgore Trout is an old, unknown science fiction writer whose stories appear only in dirty magazines. Dwayne Hoover is a successful car dealer in a Midwestern city who is quietly going insane. When the two meet at an arts festival, Dwayne reads one of Trout's novels and believes it's true, with violent results. Vonnegut himself appears as a character, and illustrates the book with his own felt-tip drawings.
How long does it take to read Breakfast of Champions?
About 8 hours (320 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Breakfast of Champions?
If you liked it, try Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.