# Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its prescient take on automation and work, and for how closely it matches current AI debates. Critics find it weaker than Vonnegut's other novels.

## Why people recommend it

- Relevant to AI and automation today (7 comments): "I happened to reread it recently and was absolutely blown away by how relevant it is today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46393736)) "They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030399)) "while his first novel is not as entertaining, it's surprisingly relevant today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48552979))
- Depicts a future of automated work (2 comments): "imagined a future where basically all work was automated and the terribleness of that path" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181594)) "a novel that addresses automation taking over the economy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029691))
- Worth reading for people in tech (2 comments): "the people who most should read it and other things are not the people in our field" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395290)) "Read Vonneguts Player Piano to see where I think this is heading." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48324801))

## What people warn about

- Weaker than Vonnegut's other novels (2 comments): "while his first novel is not as entertaining, it's surprisingly relevant today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48552979)) "It's just not a very good Vonnegut novel though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46393417))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1473582393?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781473582392) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut", https://hackerapproved.com/p/player-piano/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).