Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut (1952)

An oldie, but goodie saved from the dumpster. I must have read this in high school. I forgot that Vonnegut mixed science fiction with his comments on life. This was a future, where machines have taken over almost everyone's job, only the engineers and managers remain. People are despondent with nothing to do. Paul Proteus is one of the top engineers, but he too is no longer satisfied. There are great characters, like the Shah of Bratpuhr, who is being shown around America by Dr. Ewing Halyard. The Shah sees similarities with his own country and Halyard has the hardest time explaining that the people are not slaves. My favorite detail in the book is when the machines find out that Halyard didn't complete his physical fitness requirement at Cornell, so his degree could be invalidated. I had friends who had to finish up PE requirements to get their degrees from Cornell. Since Vonnegut attended CU, I feel a connection with him and appreciate all the references to local places and things. I enjoyed the book, but not as much as when I was younger. It is still funny, but the machines have taken over our universe in a much different way than Vonnegut imagined.