Player Piano

Player Piano is the debut novel from one of history's most innovative authors, published on Vonnegut's 100th birthday. In Player Piano , the first of Vonnegut's wildly funny and deadly serious novels, automata have dramatically reduced the need for America's work force. Ten years after the introduction of these robot labourers, the only people still working are the engineers and their managers, who live in Ilium; everyone else lives in Homestead, an impoverished part of town characterised by purposelessness and mass produced houses. Paul Proteus is the manager of Ilium Works. While grateful to be held in high regard, Paul begins to feel uneasy about his position - especially after a trip to Homestead. Eventually, Paul makes the decision to rebel against all he's been given, inciting seismic repercussions... 'His black logic...gives us something to laugh about and much to fear' New York Times Book Review Watch the documentary about his life - Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time - on Prime

Player Piano is the debut novel from one of history's most innovative authors, published on Vonnegut's 100th birthday. In Player Piano , the first of Vonnegut's wildly funny and deadly serious novels, automata have dramatically reduced the need for America's work force. Ten years after the introduction of these robot labourers, the only people still working are the engineers and their managers, who live in Ilium; everyone else lives in Homestead, an impoverished part of town characterised by purposelessness and mass produced houses. Paul Proteus is the manager of Ilium Works. While grateful to be held in high regard, Paul begins to feel uneasy about his position - especially after a trip to Homestead. Eventually, Paul makes the decision to rebel against all he's been given, inciting seismic repercussions... 'His black logic...gives us something to laugh about and much to fear' New York Times Book Review Watch the documentary about his life - Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time - on Prime

"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

"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