Player Piano (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
- First Published: 1952
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—dystopia
- Time of Work: The near future
- Setting: Primarily Ilium, New York
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction, Dystopian fiction
- Subjects: New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Leadership, Future, Management, Dissent or dissenters
- Locales: New York
The Plot
The world envisioned in Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel, is one in which highly efficient, automated machines have replaced most industrial workers except for a managerial class, largely consisting of engineers who maintain the machines. The protagonist is Dr. Paul Proteus, the son of the chief architect of the second industrial revolution, which resulted in the new machine age. As manager of the Ilium Works, one of America’s foremost industrial centers, he is in the upper echelon of the managerial class. Proteus’ rise to even greater prominence...
[The entire page is 1072 words long]
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