VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel is a dystopia of automation, describing the deterioration it causes in the quality of living. In "America in the Coming Age of Electronics" widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class - the engineers and managers who keep society running - and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines. Vonnegut uses the player piano as a metaphor to represent how even the most simple of activities, such as teaching oneself how to play the piano, has been replaced by machines.
