The Body Artist (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Don DeLillo
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The present
- Setting: A secluded house on the coast near New York City
- Principal Characters: Lauren Hartke, Mr. Tuttle, Rey Robles
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Magical Realism
- Subjects: New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Art or artists, Twenty-first century, Ghosts or apparitions, Identity, Widows or widowers, Bereavement or grief, Time, Dopplegangers
- Locales: New York, NY
Philosopher René Descartes is famous for his statement, “I think, therefore I am.” In The Body Artist, the title character Lauren Hartke might have said, “I sense, therefore I am,” and the mysterious Mr. Tuttle, “I will thought, therefore I am be.” Through these two characters, author Don DeLillo poses questions about the nature of reality.
The central story of The Body Artist can be interpreted many ways. One reviewer has called the book a ghost story. It also can be read as a set of odd coincidences, or as the narration of Lauren Hartke’s daydreams...
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