Kurt Vonnegut has become one of my favorite authors over the years, so much so that "Kurt" was a finalist when picking names for my dog. His dark humor, satire, and seamless fusion of postmodernism with science fiction and fantasy has created books worth revisiting, which means a lot from someone who typically does not reread books within the same decade.

If I were handed a coverless manuscript of Player Piano, I would not recognize it for one of Vonnegut's works. Although still heavily autobiographical (drawing heavily from his time as an employee for GE), this sci fi romp warning of the effect of automation on humanity lacks the typical Vonnegutisms that differentiate his works. Thematically compared to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984, Player Piano is acoustic Vonnegut; glimpses of his tone are tantalizingly there, but never develop into full fruition. 

As a stand alone book (and not a direct comparison to other Vonnegut works), Player Piano is.....fine. Its story and plot are a fine mixture of entertainment and preachy warnings of the dangers of automation. Even as a direct comparison to Vonnegut's other works, Player Piano is his full-length writing debut; this book would be his first novel released, with his next novel (The Sirens Of Titan) being released over 7 years later. My biggest complaint with the novel is that it's just boring.