Author · guide verified September 10, 2026
Kurt Vonnegut Books in Order
Every Kurt Vonnegut book in publication order — 40 in total, spanning 1952–2020.
Kurt Vonnegut wrote about the worst things people do to each other — firebombing, war, cruelty, the slow grind of a bad job — in a voice so plain, funny and kind that generations of readers have felt he was talking directly to them. He was a prisoner of war who survived the bombing of Dresden in a meat locker, a failed car dealer, a PR man for General Electric, and finally, in his forties, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five, one of the great American novels. He wrote fourteen novels between 1952 and his death in 2007, plus stories, essays and speeches, and almost all of them can be read in a weekend. So it goes.
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Player Piano | 1952 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Sirens of Titan | 1959 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Cat's Cradle | 1960 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Canary in a Cat House | 1961 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Mother Night | 1961 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater | 1965 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Slaughterhouse-Five | 1969 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  Happy Birthday, Wanda June | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  Who Am I This Time? For Romeos and Juliets | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 |  Between Time and Timbuktu | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 |  Breakfast of Champions | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 |  Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 |  Jailbird | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 |  Deadeye Dick | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 |  Gal叩pagos | 1985 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 |  Bluebeard | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 |  Hocus Pocus | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
| 18 |  Timequake | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 19 |  Kurt Vonnegut on Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
| 20 |  The Big Trip Up Yonder | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  2BR02B | 1962 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Welcome to the Monkey House | 1968 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Bagombo Snuff Box | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Armageddon in Retrospect | 2008 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Look at the Birdie | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  While Mortals Sleep | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Sucker's Portfolio | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  Complete Stories | 2017 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Palm Sunday | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Fates Worse Than Death | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  Like Shaking Hands with God | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  A Man Without a Country | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Letters | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  We Are What We Pretend To Be | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  If This Isn't Nice What Is? | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 |  Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945 | 2020 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Children's Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sun, Moon, Star | 1980 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Grave Predictions | 2016 | Amazon US UK |
Every title by year All 40, oldest to newest
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Player Piano | 1952 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 | The Sirens of Titan | 1959 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 | Cat's Cradle | 1960 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 | Canary in a Cat House | 1961 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 | Mother Night | 1961 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | 2BR02B | 1962 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 | God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater | 1965 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 | Welcome to the Monkey House | 1968 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 | Slaughterhouse-Five | 1969 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 | Happy Birthday, Wanda June | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 | Who Am I This Time? For Romeos and Juliets | 1970 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 | Between Time and Timbuktu | 1972 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 | Breakfast of Champions | 1973 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 | Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons | 1974 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 | Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! | 1976 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 | Jailbird | 1979 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 | Sun, Moon, Star | 1980 | Amazon US UK |
| 18 | Palm Sunday | 1981 | Amazon US UK |
| 19 | Deadeye Dick | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 20 | Fates Worse Than Death | 1982 | Amazon US UK |
| 21 | Gal叩pagos | 1985 | Amazon US UK |
| 22 | Bluebeard | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 23 | Hocus Pocus | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
| 24 | Timequake | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 25 | Bagombo Snuff Box | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 26 | God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 27 | Like Shaking Hands with God | 1999 | Amazon US UK |
| 28 | Kurt Vonnegut on Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather | 2004 | Amazon US UK |
| 29 | A Man Without a Country | 2005 | Amazon US UK |
| 30 | Armageddon in Retrospect | 2008 | Amazon US UK |
| 31 | The Big Trip Up Yonder | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 32 | Look at the Birdie | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 33 | While Mortals Sleep | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 34 | Sucker's Portfolio | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 35 | Letters | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 36 | We Are What We Pretend To Be | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 37 | If This Isn't Nice What Is? | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 38 | Grave Predictions | 2016 | Amazon US UK |
| 39 | Complete Stories | 2017 | Amazon US UK |
| 40 | Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945 | 2020 | Amazon US UK |
A reader's guide to Kurt Vonnegut
Where to begin, and where to go next
Vonnegut's novels are all standalones, so there is no required order — but there is a natural path. Start with Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle; they are his two most beloved books and the best introduction to the voice. Then try The Sirens of Titan (1959), a space-opera romp that Douglas Adams openly adored, and Mother Night (1961), a dark, moral novel about an American who broadcast Nazi propaganda and may or may not have been a spy — its famous warning is 'We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.' Breakfast of Champions (1973), with its doodles and its exhausted cheerfulness, is Vonnegut at his most Vonnegut. Save Player Piano, his 1952 debut, for later; it's good but conventional, and he hadn't yet found the voice.
Kilgore Trout and the recurring cast
Read a few and you'll notice familiar faces: Kilgore Trout, the unloved science-fiction writer whose books are printed as filler in pornographic magazines; Eliot Rosewater, the drunken philanthropist; the town of Ilium; the planet Tralfamadore. None of it is continuity in the series sense — Vonnegut contradicted himself freely — but it gives the books the feel of one long conversation, and part of the pleasure of reading widely is watching Trout wander in and out.
The stories and the nonfiction
Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) collects his best short fiction, including 'Harrison Bergeron' and 'EPICAC', and is a fine place to start if you'd rather sample. Bagombo Snuff Box gathers early magazine stories; the posthumous collections (Armageddon in Retrospect, Look at the Birdie, While Mortals Sleep) sweep up the rest. On the nonfiction side, A Man Without a Country (2005) — his last book, a slim set of essays about America, art and growing old — is essential, and the commencement speeches gathered in If This Isn't Nice, What Is? contain the best advice he ever gave: notice when you're happy, and say so out loud.
Kurt Vonnegut on screen
Vonnegut has resisted adaptation — his books are mostly voice — but a few filmmakers have tried, and one documentary got him exactly right.
- 1972Slaughterhouse-FiveFilm — George Roy Hill; Vonnegut himself said he loved it.
- 1995Harrison BergeronTV film — Showtime; from the short story.
- 1996Mother NightFilm — Nick Nolte as Howard W. Campbell Jr.
- 1999Breakfast of ChampionsFilm — Bruce Willis and Albert Finney; a famous misfire.
- 2021Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in TimeDocumentary — Robert B. Weide’s decades-in-the-making portrait, and the best introduction to the man.
Frequently asked
What order should I read Kurt Vonnegut books in?
Any order — his novels are standalones. A good path is Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Breakfast of Champions and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, then the rest as you like. Publication order (Player Piano, 1952, through Timequake, 1997) works too if you want to watch the style develop.
What is Kurt Vonnegut’s best book?
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) is the consensus masterpiece and the one most often taught. Cat’s Cradle and The Sirens of Titan are the fan favorites right behind it.
How many novels did Kurt Vonnegut write?
Fourteen, from Player Piano (1952) to Timequake (1997), plus several short-story collections, a play (Happy Birthday, Wanda June) and a number of essay and speech collections. Some later items in the list above are posthumous compilations.
Was Kurt Vonnegut really at Dresden?
Yes. He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and was a prisoner of war in Dresden when the Allies firebombed the city in February 1945, surviving in an underground meat locker — the “Schlachthof-fünf” of the title. It took him more than twenty years to write about it.
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