The Difference Between ‘Know-How’ and ‘Know-What’

Why did Kurt Vonnegut choose the title Player Piano?

Although I first picked up the book 15 or 20 years ago, I never gave the question much thought. There are a couple of scenes with a player piano in the bar in Homestead, but they seem to serve a supporting role. Of course, the symbolism of the player piano fits the book’s theme—a machine taking something fundamentally human, music, away from people. Nice ideas but nothing too meaningful, I thought. I put it down to a book needing a title and Player Piano being a decently creative one. (Certainly better than Utopia 14.)

But when I was preparing for this summer’s book club, I unexpectedly stumbled upon the answer to “Why Player Piano?”, and it turned out to be more interesting, and meaningful, than I suspected.