Just finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos. Before that, I had read his cat's cradle. Both were very enjoyable and the common theme is humanity's short sighted attempts to conquer nature, leading to near extinction. He questions the usefulness of the "big brains" that "lie all the time" in Galapagos
The fun thing about Vonnegut is that often a character he creates in one novel makes cameos in his other novels. He is the master of this. In his novel, "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," Vonnegut introduces his character, Kilgore Trout (1965). Trout is an unsuccessful pulp fiction soft porn author. In the novel, Breakfast of Champions. Trout is finally given a literature award for one of his porn novels. After the Award ceremony, Vonnegut chases down Trout as himself. Accosts Trout and admits that he, Vonnegut, is Trouts creator. He realeases Trout as his own entity. 6 months later Trout comes out with a soft porn novel (in reality) by the name, "Venus on the Half-shell".