Kilgore Trout is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

created by author Kurt Vonnegut. In Vonnegut's work, Trout is a notably unsuccessful author of paperback science fiction novels. "Trout" was inspired by the name of the author Theodore Sturgeon (Vonnegut's colleague in the genre of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

—Vonnegut was amused by the notion of a person with the name of a fish,

Sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...

, hence

Trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

), although Trout's consistent presence in Vonnegut's works has also led critics to view him as the author's own

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

. In a homage to Vonnegut, Kilgore Trout is also the titular author of the novel '' Venus on the Half-Shell'' (1975), written pseudonymously by Philip José Farmer.

Origins of the character

In 1957, Theodore Sturgeon moved to

Truro, Massachusetts Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located slightly more than 100 miles (160 km) by road from Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the no ...

, where he befriended Vonnegut, then working as a salesman in a Saab dealership. At the time, both were writing in the genre of

; Vonnegut had already published '' Player Piano'', retitled ''Utopia 14'' in paperback, while Sturgeon's then more-successful career (mainly as a short story writer) stretched back to 1938. In fact, at the time of their initial meeting, Sturgeon was the most anthologized English-language science fiction author alive. Sturgeon would continue writing, but his pace dipped noticeably after the end of the 1950s, and he published no original novels after 1961. By the time of Kilgore Trout's first appearance (in 1965's '' God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater''), both Vonnegut and Sturgeon had moved to different cities, and Vonnegut had begun to be perceived as a mainstream author. The "Kilgore Trout" name was a transparent reference to the older writer (substituting "Kilgore" for "Theodore" and "

" for "

"), 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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. I was delighted that it said in the middle of it that he was the inspiration for the Kurt Vonnegut character of Kilgore Trout." The impetus to create Kilgore Trout as a character, Vonnegut suggested in a 1979 NYPR interview, was the convenience it offered to turn science-fiction plots into humorous parables. "Kilgore Trout was more or less invented by a friend of mine, Knox Burger, who was my editor in the early days. He did not suggest that I do this, but he said, 'You know, the problem with science-fiction? It’s much more fun to hear someone tell the story of the book than to read the story itself.' And it’s true: If you paraphrase a science-fiction story, it comes out as a very elegant joke, and it’s over in a minute or so. It’s a tedious business to read all the surrounding material. So I started summarizing hem and I suppose I’ve now summarized 50 novels I will never have to write, and spared people the reading of them."

Appearances in Vonnegut books

Trout appears in several of Vonnegut's books, but the character is deliberately inconsistent as Vonnegut habitually changes major details about his life and circumstances with each appearance. Trout is consistently presented as a prolific but unappreciated science-fiction writer; other details, including his general appearance, demeanor and his dates of birth and death, vary widely from novel to novel. (Perhaps the most extreme instance of this occurs in ''Jailbird'', wherein "Kilgore Trout" is merely a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

of Dr. Robert Fender, a novelist and prison inmate.) Vonnegut makes no attempt to reconcile these sometimes extreme differences, and his novels do not form an internally consistent world. Trout performs a variety of roles in Vonnegut's works: he acts as a catalyst for the main characters in '' Breakfast of Champions'', '' 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 the protagonist is deeply affected while reading a Trout-like science fiction story. In early novels, Kilgore Trout lives in Ilium, New York, a fictional town whose name is based on

Troy, New York Troy is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Huds ...

(Illium was the Roman name for ancient Troy and Vonnegut lived and worked in nearby

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

for some time). In later novels, Trout inhabits a

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. Cities in North America are beginning to recognize these units as a vital source ...

in Cohoes, an ailing mill community. While living in Cohoes, Trout works as an installer of "

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

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 A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s and over 2,000 short stories, is usually described as an unappreciated science fiction writer whose works are used only as filler material in pornographic magazines. However, he does have at least three fans: Eliot Rosewater and

Billy Pilgrim ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to ...

—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 Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

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 Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, where he receives political asylum as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. 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 The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. Trout also has an encounter with his creator, Mr. Vonnegut, in the final chapter. Vonnegut tells him that he is setting him free, in much the same way that

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

freed his serfs, and that the rest of his life will be much happier: his work will be republished by reputable publishers, and his ideas will become very influential, leading to him winning the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for medicine. However, Vonnegut cannot grant Trout's request to "make me young." 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 is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. Kilgore Trout is the

of (the equally fictional) Dr. Robert Fender, whose

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

is in

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

. While in prison, Fender also writes many science fiction novels under another pseudonym, Frank X. Barlow, and works as 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: It is stated in ''Timequake'' that Trout's father killed his mother when Trout was 12. This influences Trout later in life, when he is shown to say the phrase "ting-a-ling" whenever greeted or asked any questions. 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. In '' A Man Without a Country'', Vonnegut receives a brief phone call on January 20, 2004, from Kilgore Trout in which they discuss George W. Bush's State of the Union Address and the imminent death of the Earth due to human carelessness. In '' God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian'', Vonnegut's final interview is with Trout.

In other works

At least one actual published work is attributed to Kilgore Trout: the novel '' Venus on the Half-Shell'', 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 A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

''Science Fiction Review'', published by

Richard E. Geis Richard E. Geis (July 19, 1927 – February 4, 2013) was an American science fiction science fiction fandom, fan and writer, and erotica writer, from Portland, Oregon, who won the Hugo Award for Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer, Best Fan Writ ...

, Geis claimed to have received an angry, obscenity-laden telephone call from Vonnegut about what Farmer had said about the book in Geis's zine.Sfrevu.com
/ref> Trout is referred to in

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

novel '' The Ground Beneath Her Feet''—"Books by famous American writers... science fiction by Kilgore Trout..." Trout was portrayed by

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960 ...

in the 1999 film version of ''

Breakfast of Champions ''Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday'' is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. His seventh novel, it is set predominantly in the fictional town of Midland City, Ohio, and focuses on two characters: Dwayne Hoover, a Midl ...

'', directed by

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He b ...

. In the novel '' Fallen Angels'' by

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...

and

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and conspiracy theorist who was the 24th U.S. National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. He resigned in light of ...

, the folksinging fan Jenny Trout (a character based on real-life

filk Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defi ...

singer

Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is a folk 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''. Her second recording, ''Solar S ...

) 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 reference to 1950s men's magazines such as ''Stag'', which existed a level beneath the relative acceptability of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

''. In '' The World of Kurt Vonnegut: The Bell Curse'', by Kevin G. Summers, Trout appears for the first time in a licensed work. In the Capcom video game ''

Breath of Fire II ''Breath of Fire II'' is a role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom. First released in 1994 in video gaming, 1994, the game was licensed to Laguna for European release in 1996 in video gaming, 1996. It is the second entry in the ' ...

'' for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, two rival aristocrats are named Kilgore and Trout.

Works by Kilgore Trout

Novels

* ''Barring-gaffner of Bagnialto or This Year's Masterpiece'' (novel mentioned in '' Breakfast of Champions'') * ''The Big Board'' (novel mentioned in '' Slaughterhouse-Five'') * ''The Era of Hopeful Monsters'' (novel mentioned in '' Galápagos'') * ''First District Court of Thankyou'' (novel mentioned in '' Jailbird'' and '' God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'') * ''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'') * '' 2BR02B'' (novel mentioned in ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'') * '' Venus on the Half-Shell'' (novel first mentioned in ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'')

Short stories

* "Albert Hardy" (short story mentioned in '' Timequake'') * "An American Family Marooned on the Planet Pluto" (short story mentioned in ''Timequake'') * "Asleep at the Switch" (short story mentioned in '' Jailbird'') * "Bunker Bingo Party" (short story mentioned in ''Timequake'') * "The Dancing Fool" (short story mentioned in '' Breakfast of Champions'') * "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 Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

'') * "The Protocols of the Elders of

Tralfamadore Tralfamadore is the name of several fictional planets in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Details of the corresponding indigenous alien race, the Tralfamadorians, vary from novel to novel: * In the 1959 novel ''The Sirens of Titan'', Tralfamadore ...

" (short story mentioned in '' Hocus Pocus" – 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 Titan ''The Sirens of Titan'' is a comic science fiction 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. Much of the story revolves around ...

'' and '' Slaughterhouse-Five'') * "The Sisters B-36" (short story mentioned in ''Timequake'') * "This Means You" (short story mentioned in ''Breakfast of Champions'')

Memoir

* ''My Ten Years on Automatic Pilot'' (nonfiction book mentioned in ''Timequake'')

Play

* ''The Wrinkled Old Family Retainer'' (play mentioned in ''Timequake'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trout, Kilgore Author surrogates Characters in American novels of the 20th century Characters in American novels of the 21st century Fictional characters from New York (state) Fictional writers Kurt Vonnegut characters Literary characters introduced in 1965