Kilgore Trout
Encyclopedia
Kilgore Trout is a fictional character
created by author Kurt Vonnegut
. He was originally created as a fictionalized version of author Theodore Sturgeon
(Vonnegut's colleague in the genre of science fiction
), although Trout's consistent presence in Vonnegut's works has also led critics to view him as the author's own alter ego
. Trout is also the titular author of the novel Venus on the Half-Shell
, pseudonymously written by Philip José Farmer
.
moved to Truro, Massachusetts
, where he befriended Vonnegut, then working as a salesman in a Saab
dealership. At the time, both were writing in the genre of science fiction
(Vonnegut had already published Player Piano
, retitled Utopia 14 in paperback). By the time of Kilgore Trout's first appearance (in 1965's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
), both had moved to different cities, and Vonnegut had begun to be perceived as a mainstream author. The name was a transparent reference to the older writer (substituting "Kilgore" for "Theodore" and "Trout
" for "Sturgeon
"), but since the characterization was less than flattering (both Sturgeon and Trout were financially unsuccessful and seemingly slipping into obscurity), Vonnegut did not publicly state the connection, nor did Sturgeon encourage the comparison. It was not until after Sturgeon's death in 1985 that Vonnegut explicitly acknowledged the matter, stating in a 1987 interview that "Yeah, it said so in his obituary in the New York Times. I was delighted that it said in the middle of it that he was the inspiration for the Kurt Vonnegut character of Kilgore Trout."
, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
and Slaughterhouse-Five
, while in others, such as Jailbird
, and Timequake
, Trout is an active character who is vital to the story. Trout is also described differently in several books; in Breakfast of Champions, he has, by the end, become something of a father figure, while in other novels, he seems to be something like Vonnegut in the early part of his career. In Hocus Pocus
, Trout is not mentioned by name, but reading a Trout-like science fiction story. In early novels, Kilgore Trout lives in Ilium, New York, a fictional town based on Troy, New York
(Vonnegut lived and worked in nearby Schenectady for some time). In later novels, Trout inhabits a basement apartment
in Cohoes
, an ailing mill community. While living in Cohoes, Trout works as an installer of "aluminum combination storm windows
and screens." The ghost of Trout's son Leon Trotsky Trout is the narrator of the novel Galápagos.
Trout, who has supposedly written over 117 novel
s and over 2000 short stories
, is usually described as an unappreciated science fiction writer whose works are used only as filler material in pornographic magazines with the fictional Jessi Palmer who turned out to be an actual girl. However, he does have at least three fans: Eliot Rosewater
and Billy Pilgrim
—both Vonnegut characters—have a near-complete collection of Trout's work or have read most of his work; in Galápagos, Leon Trotsky Trout goes on leave in Thailand and meets an unnamed Swedish doctor who is a fan of Kilgore Trout. This doctor helps Leon desert the US Marine Corps and defect to Sweden, where he receives political asylum as a conscientious objector
to the Vietnam War.
Vonnegut revised Trout's biography on several occasions. In Breakfast of Champions, he is born in 1907 and dies in 1981. In Timequake, he lives from 1917 to 2001. Both death dates are set in the future as of the time the novels were written. More recently, in an article for In These Times
Vonnegut "reports" that Kilgore Trout commits suicide
by drinking Drāno
. Trout "dies" at midnight on October 15, 2004 in Cohoes following his consultation with a psychic
, who informs him that George W. Bush
would once again win the U. S. Presidential election by a vote of 5-to-4 in the Supreme Court
. The epitaph on his tombstone reads, "Life is no way to treat an animal."
In Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore Trout has part of his right ring finger bitten off by the book's other main character, Dwayne Hoover, when Kilgore attends an arts festival in the Midwest. Trout also has an encounter with his creator, Mr. Vonnegut, in the final chapter.
In Jailbird (1979), Kilgore Trout is revealed to be the only lifer in the Federal Minimum Security Adult Correctional Facility near Finletter Air Force Base, Georgia. Jailbird, narrated by the fictional character Walter F. Starbuck, shows Kilgore Trout to be the only American convicted of treason
during the Korean War
. Kilgore Trout is the pseudonym
for Dr. Robert Fender. His doctorate
is in veterinary science. While in prison, Fender writes many science fiction novels under another pseudonym, Frank X. Barlow, as well. In addition to writing science fiction novels, Fender is the chief clerk in the supply room of the prison.
Galápagos is narrated by Leon Trotsky Trout (1946–1986), the son and only child of Kilgore Trout. Leon ran away at the age of 16, ashamed of his father, and never had any contact with him thereafter, until his death, when Kilgore appeared at the door of the "blue tunnel" that leads to the Afterlife. Kilgore appears at the door to the tunnel, urging his son to enter and proceed to the Afterlife. Three times Leon refuses, on the grounds that he wants to see more of human life in the hope of understanding it. During Kilgore's fourth appearance at the entrance to the blue tunnel, he threatens his son: if Leon doesn't leave the Earth immediately, the blue tunnel won't appear again for one million years. Since Kilgore has never lied to Leon, Leon knows this will come true. He is momentarily distracted by events on Earth, and the tunnel disappears. Galápagos contains several flashback scenes that explain the breakup between Kilgore and his wife. Leon states that he became a US Marine because his father was one. Trout's appearance in Galápagos is somewhat problematic for Vonnegut's continuity because the novel explicitly states that Kilgore dies before 1986, when the events of the novel take place. Yet Timequake finds him alive more than ten years later. In Galápagos, Leon uses his omniscient status as a ghost to confirm that he never fathered a child, so that Kilgore never had any descendants.
In Timequake Kilgore's creed is "You were sick, but now you are well again. And there's work to be done." The novel also features Trout's last and presumably only poem:
Trout accidentally becomes a great hero, rescuing many lives after the timequake, and finally receives a measure of acclaim: he spends his last days in a literary colony, honored for his heroism and some of his discarded works, which were preserved by a security guard.
, written by Philip José Farmer
but published under the name "Kilgore Trout." For some time it was assumed that Vonnegut must have written it; when the truth of its authorship came out, Vonnegut was reported as being "not amused"; in an issue of the semi-pro zine
Science Fiction Review, published by Richard E. Geis
, Geis claimed to have received an angry, obscenity-laden telephone call from Vonnegut about what Farmer had said about the book in Geis' zine.
Trout is referred to in Salman Rushdie's magical realism novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet
-- "Books by famous American writers... science fiction by Kilgore Trout,..."
Trout was portrayed by Albert Finney
in the 1999 film version of Breakfast Of Champions
, directed by Alan Rudolph.
In the novel Fallen Angels
by Larry Niven
, Jerry Pournelle
and Michael Flynn, the folksinging fan Jenny Trout (a character based on real-life folksinger Leslie Fish
) is said to be the daughter of Kilgore Trout.
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
, Trout is referenced in passing as having written stories for a gentleman's magazine called Stagman, an obvious sendup of Playboy
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by author Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
. He was originally created as a fictionalized version of author Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
(Vonnegut's colleague in the genre of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
), although Trout's consistent presence in Vonnegut's works has also led critics to view him as the author's own alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
. Trout is also the titular author of the novel Venus on the Half-Shell
Venus on the Half-Shell
Venus on the Half-Shell is a science fiction novel attributed to the fictional author Kilgore Trout but actually written by Philip José Farmer. Kilgore Trout is a recurring character of many of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut and this book was first mentioned as a fictional work in his novel God Bless...
, pseudonymously written by Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
.
Origins of the character
In 1957, Theodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
moved to Truro, Massachusetts
Truro, Massachusetts
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located two hours outside Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape"...
, where he befriended Vonnegut, then working as a salesman in a Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
dealership. At the time, both were writing in the genre of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
(Vonnegut had already published Player Piano
Player Piano
Player Piano, author Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, was published in 1952. It is a dystopia of automation and capitalism, describing the dereliction they cause in the quality of life. The...
, retitled Utopia 14 in paperback). By the time of Kilgore Trout's first appearance (in 1965's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation, whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared...
), both had moved to different cities, and Vonnegut had begun to be perceived as a mainstream author. The name was a transparent reference to the older writer (substituting "Kilgore" for "Theodore" and "Trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
" for "Sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...
"), but since the characterization was less than flattering (both Sturgeon and Trout were financially unsuccessful and seemingly slipping into obscurity), Vonnegut did not publicly state the connection, nor did Sturgeon encourage the comparison. It was not until after Sturgeon's death in 1985 that Vonnegut explicitly acknowledged the matter, stating in a 1987 interview that "Yeah, it said so in his obituary in the New York Times. I was delighted that it said in the middle of it that he was the inspiration for the Kurt Vonnegut character of Kilgore Trout."
Appearances in Vonnegut books
Trout appears in several of Vonnegut's books, in which he performs a variety of roles: he acts as a catalyst for the main characters in Breakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of Champions
Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. Set in the fictional town of Midland City, it is the story of "two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast." One of these men, Dwayne Hoover, is a normal-looking but...
, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation, whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared...
and Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier called Billy Pilgrim...
, while in others, such as Jailbird
Jailbird
Jailbird is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. Its plot concerns a man recently released from a low security prison after having served time for a minor role in the Watergate scandal. The novel uses a standard memoir format, revealing Walter F...
, and Timequake
Timequake
Timequake is a semi-autobiographical work by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. published in 1997. Vonnegut described the novel as a "stew", in which he alternates between summarizing a novel he had been struggling with for a number of years, and waxing nostalgic about various events in his life.-Plot...
, Trout is an active character who is vital to the story. Trout is also described differently in several books; in Breakfast of Champions, he has, by the end, become something of a father figure, while in other novels, he seems to be something like Vonnegut in the early part of his career. In Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus (novel)
Hocus Pocus is a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut which deals with themes of class, race, crime, suicide, and globalization.-Introduction:Like many of Vonnegut's novels, Hocus Pocus is not organized in a traditional linear fashion, and has a plot centered around a major event which is alluded to early,...
, Trout is not mentioned by name, but reading a Trout-like science fiction story. In early novels, Kilgore Trout lives in Ilium, New York, a fictional town based on Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
(Vonnegut lived and worked in nearby Schenectady for some time). In later novels, Trout inhabits a basement apartment
Basement apartment
A basement apartment is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure—usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business. Rent in basement apartments is usually much lower than it is in above-ground units, due to a number of deficiencies common to basement...
in Cohoes
Cohoes, New York
Cohoes is an incorporated city located at the northeast corner of Albany County in the US state of New York. It is called the "Spindle City" because of the importance of textile production to its growth. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 16,168...
, an ailing mill community. While living in Cohoes, Trout works as an installer of "aluminum combination storm windows
Storm windows
Storm windows are windows which are mounted outside or inside of the main glass windows of a house. It may also refer to a small openable flap found in the side window on light aircraft....
and screens." The ghost of Trout's son Leon Trotsky Trout is the narrator of the novel Galápagos.
Trout, who has supposedly written over 117 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and over 2000 short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, is usually described as an unappreciated science fiction writer whose works are used only as filler material in pornographic magazines with the fictional Jessi Palmer who turned out to be an actual girl. However, he does have at least three fans: Eliot Rosewater
Eliot Rosewater
Eliot Rosewater is a recurring character in the novels of American author Kurt Vonnegut. He appears throughout various novels as an alcoholic, and a philanthropist who claims to be a volunteer fireman. He runs the Rosewater Foundation, an organization created to keep the family's money in the family...
and Billy Pilgrim
Billy Pilgrim
Billy Pilgrim was an American folk rock duo based in Atlanta, Georgia, comprising Andrew Hyra and Kristian Bush. The band's name was taken from the time-traveling anti-hero of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The name was adopted in 1994; prior to that the duo simply billed itself as...
—both Vonnegut characters—have a near-complete collection of Trout's work or have read most of his work; in Galápagos, Leon Trotsky Trout goes on leave in Thailand and meets an unnamed Swedish doctor who is a fan of Kilgore Trout. This doctor helps Leon desert the US Marine Corps and defect to Sweden, where he receives political asylum as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
to the Vietnam War.
Vonnegut revised Trout's biography on several occasions. In Breakfast of Champions, he is born in 1907 and dies in 1981. In Timequake, he lives from 1917 to 2001. Both death dates are set in the future as of the time the novels were written. More recently, in an article for In These Times
In These Times
In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago...
Vonnegut "reports" that Kilgore Trout commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by drinking Drāno
Drano
Drano is a drain cleaner product manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son.- Crystal Drano :According to the National Institutes of Health's Household Products Database, the crystal form is composed of sodium hydroxide , sodium nitrate, sodium chloride , and aluminum.The power crystals are simply colored...
. Trout "dies" at midnight on October 15, 2004 in Cohoes following his consultation with a psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
, who informs him that George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
would once again win the U. S. Presidential election by a vote of 5-to-4 in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. The epitaph on his tombstone reads, "Life is no way to treat an animal."
In Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore Trout has part of his right ring finger bitten off by the book's other main character, Dwayne Hoover, when Kilgore attends an arts festival in the Midwest. Trout also has an encounter with his creator, Mr. Vonnegut, in the final chapter.
In Jailbird (1979), Kilgore Trout is revealed to be the only lifer in the Federal Minimum Security Adult Correctional Facility near Finletter Air Force Base, Georgia. Jailbird, narrated by the fictional character Walter F. Starbuck, shows Kilgore Trout to be the only American convicted of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Kilgore Trout is the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
for Dr. Robert Fender. His doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
is in veterinary science. While in prison, Fender writes many science fiction novels under another pseudonym, Frank X. Barlow, as well. In addition to writing science fiction novels, Fender is the chief clerk in the supply room of the prison.
Galápagos is narrated by Leon Trotsky Trout (1946–1986), the son and only child of Kilgore Trout. Leon ran away at the age of 16, ashamed of his father, and never had any contact with him thereafter, until his death, when Kilgore appeared at the door of the "blue tunnel" that leads to the Afterlife. Kilgore appears at the door to the tunnel, urging his son to enter and proceed to the Afterlife. Three times Leon refuses, on the grounds that he wants to see more of human life in the hope of understanding it. During Kilgore's fourth appearance at the entrance to the blue tunnel, he threatens his son: if Leon doesn't leave the Earth immediately, the blue tunnel won't appear again for one million years. Since Kilgore has never lied to Leon, Leon knows this will come true. He is momentarily distracted by events on Earth, and the tunnel disappears. Galápagos contains several flashback scenes that explain the breakup between Kilgore and his wife. Leon states that he became a US Marine because his father was one. Trout's appearance in Galápagos is somewhat problematic for Vonnegut's continuity because the novel explicitly states that Kilgore dies before 1986, when the events of the novel take place. Yet Timequake finds him alive more than ten years later. In Galápagos, Leon uses his omniscient status as a ghost to confirm that he never fathered a child, so that Kilgore never had any descendants.
In Timequake Kilgore's creed is "You were sick, but now you are well again. And there's work to be done." The novel also features Trout's last and presumably only poem:
-
- When the tupeloTupeloThe tupelo , black gum, or pepperidge tree, genus Nyssa , is a small genus of about 9 to 11 species of trees with alternate, simple leaves...
- Goes poop-a-lo
- I'll come back to youp-a-lo
- When the tupelo
Trout accidentally becomes a great hero, rescuing many lives after the timequake, and finally receives a measure of acclaim: he spends his last days in a literary colony, honored for his heroism and some of his discarded works, which were preserved by a security guard.
Trout in other authors' works
At least one actual published work is attributed to a Kilgore Trout: the novel Venus on the Half-ShellVenus on the Half-Shell
Venus on the Half-Shell is a science fiction novel attributed to the fictional author Kilgore Trout but actually written by Philip José Farmer. Kilgore Trout is a recurring character of many of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut and this book was first mentioned as a fictional work in his novel God Bless...
, written by Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
but published under the name "Kilgore Trout." For some time it was assumed that Vonnegut must have written it; when the truth of its authorship came out, Vonnegut was reported as being "not amused"; in an issue of the semi-pro zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
Science Fiction Review, published by Richard E. Geis
Richard E. Geis
Richard E. Geis is an American erotica writer and science fiction fan and writer from Portland, Oregon who won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1982 and 1983; and whose science fiction fanzine Science Fiction Review won the 1969, 1970, 1977 and 1979 Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine...
, Geis claimed to have received an angry, obscenity-laden telephone call from Vonnegut about what Farmer had said about the book in Geis' zine.
Trout is referred to in Salman Rushdie's magical realism novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
The Ground Beneath Her Feet is the sixth novel written by Salman Rushdie. Published in 2000, it is a variation on the Orpheus/Eurydice myth with rock music replacing Orpheus' lyre...
-- "Books by famous American writers... science fiction by Kilgore Trout,..."
Trout was portrayed by Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
in the 1999 film version of Breakfast Of Champions
Breakfast of Champions (film)
Breakfast of Champions is a 1999 American comedy film adapted and directed by Alan Rudolph from the novel of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.-Plot:...
, directed by Alan Rudolph.
In the novel Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels (science fiction novel)
Fallen Angels is a Prometheus Award-winning novel by science fiction authors Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn published by Jim Baen. The novel was written as a tribute to science fiction fandom, and includes many of its well-known figures, legends, and practices...
by Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
, Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
and Michael Flynn, the folksinging fan Jenny Trout (a character based on real-life folksinger Leslie Fish
Leslie Fish
Leslie Fish is a filk musician, author, and anarchist political activist.-Music:Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet...
) is said to be the daughter of Kilgore Trout.
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series to be published by DC Comics. Although the third book to be...
, Trout is referenced in passing as having written stories for a gentleman's magazine called Stagman, an obvious sendup of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
.
Novels
- Barring-gaffner of Bagnialto or This Year's Masterpiece (novel mentioned in Breakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. Set in the fictional town of Midland City, it is the story of "two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast." One of these men, Dwayne Hoover, is a normal-looking but...
) - The Big Board (novel mentioned in Slaughterhouse-FiveSlaughterhouse-FiveSlaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier called Billy Pilgrim...
) - The Era of Hopeful Monsters (novel mentioned in Galápagos)
- First District Court of Thankyou (novel mentioned in JailbirdJailbirdJailbird is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. Its plot concerns a man recently released from a low security prison after having served time for a minor role in the Watergate scandal. The novel uses a standard memoir format, revealing Walter F...
and God Bless You, Mr. RosewaterGod Bless You, Mr. RosewaterGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation, whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared...
) - The Gospel from Outer Space (novel mentioned in Slaughterhouse-Five)
- The Gutless Wonder (novel mentioned in Slaughterhouse-Five)
- How You Doin'? (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- Maniacs in the Fourth Dimension (novel mentioned in Slaughterhouse-Five)
- The Money Tree (novel mentioned in Slaughterhouse-Five)
- Now It Can Be Told (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- Oh Say Can You Smell? (novel mentioned in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater)
- The Pan-Galactic Memory Bank (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- The Pan-Galactic Straw Boss a.k.a. Mouth Crazy (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- The Pan-Galactic Three-Day Pass (novel mentioned in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater)
- Plague on Wheels (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- The Smart Bunny (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- The Son of Jimmy Valentine (novel mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- 2BR02B2BR02B2BR02B is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in the digest magazine Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1962, and collected in Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box . The title is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B", referencing the famous phrase "to be, or not to be" from...
(novel mentioned in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater) - Venus on the Half-ShellVenus on the Half-ShellVenus on the Half-Shell is a science fiction novel attributed to the fictional author Kilgore Trout but actually written by Philip José Farmer. Kilgore Trout is a recurring character of many of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut and this book was first mentioned as a fictional work in his novel God Bless...
(novel first mentioned in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater)
Short stories
- Albert Hardy (short story mentioned in TimequakeTimequakeTimequake is a semi-autobiographical work by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. published in 1997. Vonnegut described the novel as a "stew", in which he alternates between summarizing a novel he had been struggling with for a number of years, and waxing nostalgic about various events in his life.-Plot...
) - An American Family Marooned on the Planet Pluto (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- Asleep at the Switch (short story mentioned in JailbirdJailbirdJailbird is a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. Its plot concerns a man recently released from a low security prison after having served time for a minor role in the Watergate scandal. The novel uses a standard memoir format, revealing Walter F...
) - Bunker Bingo Party (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- The Dancing Fool (short story mentioned in Breakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of ChampionsBreakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. Set in the fictional town of Midland City, it is the story of "two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast." One of these men, Dwayne Hoover, is a normal-looking but...
) - Dog's Breakfast (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- Dr. Schadenfreude (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- Empire State (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- Gilgongo! (short story mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- Golden Wedding (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- Hail to the Chief (short story mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
- No Laughing Matter (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- The Planet Gobblers (short story mentioned in Palm SundayPalm Sunday (book)Palm Sunday is a 1981 collection of short stories, speeches, essays, letters, and other previously unpublished works by author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.-Content:...
) - The Protocols of the Elders of TralfamadoreTralfamadoreThe Tralfamadorians are a fictional alien race mentioned in several novels by Kurt Vonnegut. Tralfamadore is their home planet. Details on the inhabitants of the planet vary from novel to novel:...
(short story mentioned in Hocus PocusHocus Pocus (novel)Hocus Pocus is a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut which deals with themes of class, race, crime, suicide, and globalization.-Introduction:Like many of Vonnegut's novels, Hocus Pocus is not organized in a traditional linear fashion, and has a plot centered around a major event which is alluded to early,...
– no author attributed, but bears many elements characteristic of Trout's work. Tralfamadore is mentioned by Eliot Rosewater in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Tralfamadore is also a main element of the plots of The Sirens of TitanThe Sirens of TitanThe Sirens of Titan is a Hugo Award-nominated novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history...
and Slaughterhouse-FiveSlaughterhouse-FiveSlaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier called Billy Pilgrim...
) - The Sisters B-36 (short story mentioned in Timequake)
- This Means You (short story mentioned in Breakfast of Champions)
Pop Culture References
- In the 1995 Capcom SNES English version of the RPG Breath of Fire II, a character named Kilgore asks one of the main characters to steal from another character, named Trout.
- There is a men's clothing store in Pepper Pike, Ohio named Kilgore Trout
- Kilgore Trout is the pseudonym used by a writer for the satire website Chronicle.SU
- I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - The First Word That Comes To Mind. The lyrics are a passage from Timequake, referencing Kilgore Trout.
- In the Criminal Minds episode "Fear and Loathing" kilgore Trout is metioned as being "geeky" thing Prentiss enjoys.
See also
- List of fictional books invented by Kurt Vonnegut