Player Piano
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegutby Kurt Vonnegut
Hacker ApprovedRanked 32 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
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.
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.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 16 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Relevant to AI and automation today
“I happened to reread it recently and was absolutely blown away by how relevant it is today”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape” “They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately.”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence” “while his first novel is not as entertaining, it's surprisingly relevant today”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Claude Corps” - Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Tech CEOs are apparently suffering from AI psychosis”
- Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence”
- Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “iPhone 17 Pro Demonstrated Running a 400B LLM”
- Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
Depicts a future of automated work
“imagined a future where basically all work was automated and the terribleness of that path”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute” “a novel that addresses automation taking over the economy”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence” Worth reading for people in tech
“the people who most should read it and other things are not the people in our field”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape” “Read Vonneguts Player Piano to see where I think this is heading.”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “Tech CEOs are apparently suffering from AI psychosis”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weaker than Vonnegut's other novels
“while his first novel is not as entertaining, it's surprisingly relevant today”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Claude Corps” “It's just not a very good Vonnegut novel though.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Joan Didion and Kurt Vonnegut Had Something to Say. We Have It on Tape”
Other science fiction novels people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Hail Maryby Andy Weir | 117 | 24 | 83% | 12 | — | Approved |
| There Is No Antimemetics Divisionby qntm | 98 | 34 | 74% | 9 | 1.5 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Blindsightby Peter Watts | 96 | 27 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Duneby Frank Herbert | 82 | 25 | 77% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Player Pianoby Kurt VonnegutThis page | 16 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Quite prescient for the current era.”
“The ending is kind of upbeat and hopeful”
“They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately.”
“It's a good book but I didn't agree that the big problem would be men lacking meaning because they didn't have to work.”
“amazing book that could hardly meet the moment better”
“a novel that addresses automation taking over the economy”
“while his first novel is not as entertaining, it's surprisingly relevant today”
“Read Vonneguts Player Piano to see where I think this is heading.”
“Surely "Player Piano" is more relevant?”
“Vonnegut helped me realize the impossible isn't so”
“the people who most should read it and other things are not the people in our field”
“I happened to reread it recently and was absolutely blown away by how relevant it is today”
“It's just not a very good Vonnegut novel though.”
“I'd definitely recommend Piano over Thieme's Mindgames”
“imagined a future where basically all work was automated and the terribleness of that path”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.