A colleague is reading her first Vonnegut novel — ever. I don’t think it is necessarily a sin to be living in the Capital Region without having read the former GE worker’s work, but the choice of novel, “Breakfast of Champions,” has raised some interesting discussions.

Namely, one other colleague says that it is the *wrong* book to be the first Vonnegut novel, that it probably should be Slaughterhouse 5 or Cat’s Cradle.

I see nothing wrong with Breakfast, after all it has fun doodles and Kilgore Trout is writing away in Cohoes.
This leads to a couple bigger questions I put to you, dear readers: If you had to recommend someone read one (or if you could only read one) Vonnegut novel, which would it be?

Other questions could be: Why read him now at all? Does Vonnegut still matter?

(one answer can be found in Indiana, where 2007 is the Year of Vonnegut:

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission are hosting a yearlong celebration of Kurt Vonnegut. Here’s a look at the highlights. For a complete list, go to www.yearofvonnegut.org.