Don DeLillo Criticism
Don DeLillo, born in 1936, is an acclaimed American novelist renowned for his satirical depictions of contemporary society. His works, often compared to those of Thomas Pynchon, dissect and critique the complexities of modern existence through varied lenses such as sports, science, music, and urban life. DeLillo is praised as a masterful satirist and social critic, even as some detractors point to issues with his characterizations and plot structures. His exploration of language and narrative technique places him among notable postmodern writers, with recurring themes of the chaotic tension between appearance and reality, and the inadequacies of language in fully capturing human experience.
DeLillo's breakthrough novel, End Zone (1972), satirizes America's fascination with football and parallels it to nuclear warfare, highlighting the organized violence underlying modern warfare and cultural contradictions. This is emphasized by Thomas R. Edwards. In Ratner's Star (1976), he explores the tension between verbal ideas and mathematical clarity, as discussed by J. D. O'Hara and George Stade, who note its Menippean satire.
The subsequent novels, Players (1977) and Running Dog (1978), delve into urban America's surreal and nightmarish realities. Despite criticisms of tawdry excess in these works, Players is commended for its sophisticated narrative and thematic depth by William Kennedy. The novel's wit and character sketches vividly portray superficial lives, as examined by Celia Betsky, who notes parallels between terrorism and corporate values in portraying characters lost in existential uncertainty.
The Names (1982) is another exploration of language and cultural identity, praised by critics like Jonathan Yardley and Charles Champlin for its exploration of American values, despite its perceived narrative incoherence. This thematic focus on the inadequacies of language reflects DeLillo's broader literary exploration, as noted by Michael Oriard and J. D. O'Hara in their analyses of his work.
Despite varied critiques, including those from John Updike regarding character engagement, and Sarah M. McGowan's criticism of thematic shallowness in Amazons (1980), DeLillo's novels like Running Dog continue to captivate with their incisive examination of American culture. Anthony Burgess, Thomas LeClair, and Richard Kuczkowski discuss its exploration of cultural emptiness and societal chaos, while Valentine Cunningham analyses its cinematic quality and critique of contemporary imagery.
Recent scholarship, as demonstrated in works like Myth, Magic and Dread: Reading Culture Religiously and For Whom Bell Tolls: Don DeLillo's Americana, continues to expand on his themes, exploring the religious, psychological, and political dimensions of his work, affirming his enduring influence and the depth of his critical engagement with contemporary life.
Contents
- Principal Works
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DeLillo, Don (Vol. 10)
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The Flowers Are All Poison
(summary)
In the following essay, William Kennedy praises Don DeLillo's novel Players for its sophisticated narrative, wit, and dense thematic exploration despite its brevity, highlighting the book's rejection of modernity and its striking depiction of superficial lives through vivid, unforgettable character sketches.
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Thomas LeClair
(summary)
In the following essay, Thomas LeClair argues that Don DeLillo's Players utilizes a dual perspective to explore themes of spiritual entropy and the transformation of experience into abstraction, presenting a unique narrative formula that reflects the banal yet intricate complexities of contemporary life.
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The Perils of Boredom
(summary)
In the following essay, Celia Betsky explores Don DeLillo's novel Players, arguing that it critiques modern life's ennui and deceptive appearances, illustrating how terrorism and corporate America's values mirror each other, while portraying characters adrift in existential uncertainty and societal detachment.
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John Updike
(summary)
In the following essay, the critic examines Don DeLillo's novel "Players," highlighting its exploration of modern America's sophistication and terrorism through a detached, scientific narrative style, while critiquing the novel's lack of engaging characters and substantial thematic development.
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The Flowers Are All Poison
(summary)
- DeLillo, Don (Vol. 8)
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DeLillo, Don (Vol. 13)
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Don DeLillo's Search for Walden Pond
(summary)
In the following essay, Michael Oriard explores the thematic and technical evolution in Don DeLillo's novels, particularly highlighting how DeLillo's first four novels form a cohesive exploration of the search for meaning amidst chaos, characterized by complex language, humor, and a focus on the inadequacies of language to fully capture reality.
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J. D. O'Hara
(summary)
In the following essay, J. D. O'Hara observes that Don DeLillo, despite not being widely recognized, demonstrates a refusal to repeat himself by exploring varied themes and genres, ranging from philosophical explorations to satirical spy novels, showcasing his stylistic versatility and wit.
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No Health Anywhere
(summary)
In the following essay, Anthony Burgess critiques Don DeLillo's work, particularly Running Dog, arguing that it lacks the traditional humanistic qualities of a novel, presenting a sophisticated yet nihilistic portrayal of American society devoid of moral absolutes, where themes of corruption, impotence, and death prevail.
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Thomas LeClair
(summary)
In the following essay, Thomas LeClair critiques Don DeLillo's novel Running Dog, arguing that while it maintains the minimalist style of his previous works, it lacks the linguistic vitality, resulting in a narrative that reflects cultural emptiness and mirrors the mundane ordinariness of its characters.
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Richard Kuczkowski
(summary)
In the following essay, Richard Kuczkowski argues that Don DeLillo's novel Running Dog intricately weaves themes of conspiracy, morality, and societal chaos, crafting a heightened reality that explores the intersections of system and chaos without didacticism.
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Valentine Cunningham
(summary)
In the following essay, Valentine Cunningham analyzes Don DeLillo's novel Running Dog, highlighting its cinematic qualities and critique of contemporary fascination with imagery and unreality, encapsulated in a plot centered around a rumored Hitler-era film, thus offering a commentary on the nature of truth in modern America.
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Don DeLillo's Search for Walden Pond
(summary)
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DeLillo, Don (Vol. 143)
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Myth, Magic and Dread: Reading Culture Religiously
(summary)
In the following essay, Salyer explicates the religious dimension of American cultural phenomenon represented in White Noise, contrasting the novel's mythical and mystical elements with those of Leslie Marmon Silko's novels Ceremony and Almanac of the Dead.
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For Whom Bell Tolls: Don DeLillo's Americana
(summary)
In the following essay, Cowart analyzes the oedipal dimension of Americana, focusing on the novel's narrator in terms of postmodern concepts of identity and alienation.
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The Romatic Metaphysics of Don DeLillo
(summary)
In the following essay, Maltby identifies Romantic qualities of the “visionary moment” in White Noise, The Names, and Libra, comparing those qualities to the critical consensus that characterizes DeLillo's works as quintessentially postmodern writing.
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Consuming Narratives: Don DeLillo and the ‘Lethal’ Reading
(summary)
In the following essay, Moraru explores the ways DeLillo's novels thematize the contemporary production and reception of narrative art, focusing on readers' “negative” or “distorted” responses to the texts.
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Romanticism and the Postmodern Novel: Three Scenes from Don DeLillo's White Noise
(summary)
In the following essay, Caton posits that DeLillo's characterization of Jack Gladney in White Noise epitomizes Romantic sensibilities despite the postmodern tenor of the novel’s themes.
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DeLillo’s Surrogate Believers
(summary)
In the following review, Elie highlights the religious connotations of the language, themes, and imagery of Underworld.
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Underworld
(summary)
In the following review, Gardner summarizes the plot and themes of Underworld, faulting the scope and length of the novel.
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Don DeLillo’s Postmodern Pastoral
(summary)
In the following essay, Phillips characterizes White Noise as a “postmodern pastoral,” studying the novel's representation of the natural world in general and the rural American landscape in particular.
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Shots Heard 'round the World
(summary)
In the following review, McLaughlin assesses the narrative structure of Underworld, outlining combinations and juxtapositions of characters, historical events, and ideas that comprise the novel.
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Afterthoughts on Don DeLillo's Underworld
(summary)
In the following review, Tanner faults DeLillo for neglecting the aesthetics of narrative art in favor of those of sensationalistic journalism in Underworld.
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'Refuse Heaped Many Stories High': DeLillo, Dirt, and Disorder
(summary)
In the following essay, Helyer analyzes the meaning of the 'waste' metaphor in Underworld in relation to patriarchal ideals of masculine cultural authority.
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‘What About a Problem That Doesn't Have a Solution?’: Stone's A Flag for Sunrise, DeLillo's Mao II, and the Politics of Political Fiction
(summary)
In the following essay, Bull identifies the conventions of “a literature of impasse” in Mao II and Robert Stone's A Flag for Sunrise, highlighting the political implications of both narratives.
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The Hard Subjects
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Loughery pans Valparaiso. Don DeLillo’s Valparaiso concerns a man who buys a plane ticket to Valparaiso, Indiana, and ends up in Valparaiso, Chile. This mildly amusing idea might have yielded a good light comedy.
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Myth, Magic and Dread: Reading Culture Religiously
(summary)
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DeLillo, Don (Vol. 27)
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Martin Levin
(summary)
In the following essay, Martin Levin critiques Don DeLillo's novel "Americana" for its protagonist's attempt to lose himself in a narrative marked by rhetorical excess and lack of coherent identity, suggesting that while the novel contains intriguing imagery, it ultimately fails to engage the reader meaningfully.
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A Beautifully Made Football Novel about Thermonuclear War
(summary)
In the following essay, Thomas R. Edwards argues that Don DeLillo's "End Zone" transcends the typical sports novel by intricately weaving college football with themes of modern warfare, cultural entropy, and civilization's inherent contradictions, showcasing DeLillo's emerging talent through a vibrant and metaphorically rich narrative.
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Sara Blackburn
(summary)
In the following essay, Sara Blackburn critiques Don DeLillo's "Great Jones Street," arguing that despite its beautiful writing, the novel ultimately fails due to a lack of believable characters and plot coherence, rendering it more of a "sour, admirably written lecture" than a compelling narrative.
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Your Number Is Up
(summary)
In the following essay, J. D. O'Hara explores Don DeLillo's novel Ratner's Star, highlighting its treatment of themes such as the deceptive nature of knowledge, the disparity between intellect and the unspeakable, and the undermining of intellectual clarity by irrationality, while comparing DeLillo's work to European novels of ideas.
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Ratner's Star
(summary)
In the following essay, George Stade contends that Don DeLillo's novel "Ratner's Star" represents a successful shift to Menippean satire, a form that accommodates the fragmented realities and intellectual complexities DeLillo previously struggled to express through traditional novelistic conventions.
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Sarah M. McGowan
(summary)
In the following essay, Sarah M. McGowan critiques Amazons as an episodic and humorous yet thematically shallow memoir, highlighting its lack of character development and inconsistent writing while acknowledging its attempts to parody societal neuroses and lifestyles.
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A Pro's Puckish Prose
(summary)
In the following essay, J. D. O'Hara humorously suggests that Don DeLillo is the likely author of the novel "Amazons," attributing its sharp wit and perceptive social commentary to DeLillo’s unique prose style, despite being presented as the autobiography of a fictional female hockey player.
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Amazons
(summary)
In the following essay, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt explores Don DeLillo's use of satire and humor in the novel "Amazons," praising its comedic elements and the author's ability to subvert clichés, while pondering whether the book's satirical treatment of big-time sports constitutes significant thematic material.
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Preface and Don DeLillo
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Nadeau explores how Don DeLillo uses themes from modern physics to critique Western thought, highlighting DeLillo's depiction of closed systems—like media and sports—as metaphors for contemporary societal issues, and advocating for a return to a primal understanding of being to foster an alternative reality.
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Don DeLillo's Terminology of Terror
(summary)
In the following essay, Jonathan Yardley critiques Don DeLillo's novel The Names as a work of clear yet chilly brilliance, but suggests it suffers from a lack of coherence due to its excessive themes and directionless narrative, while acknowledging DeLillo's incisive exploration of language, violence, and cultural disconnection.
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The American As Citizen of Nowhere
(summary)
In the following essay, Charles Champlin argues that Don DeLillo's novel "The Names" is a compelling exploration of the contemporary American experience abroad, marked by DeLillo's unique prose style and his insightful portrayal of the complexities of identity and belonging in a globalized world.
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A Dark Art
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Towers critiques Don DeLillo's novel The Names, highlighting its captivating settings and dialogues while arguing that its occult themes and character motivations lack plausibility and coherence, ultimately leaving the novel feeling fragmented and missing the cumulative impact of its brilliant parts.
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Variety Shows
(summary)
In the following essay, Josh Rubins examines Don DeLillo's shift from surrealism to a more direct approach in "The Names," highlighting the exploration of alienation and cultural dislocation through language and traditional narrative means, while critiquing the novel's detour into fantastical elements as somewhat unnecessary.
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Martin Levin
(summary)
- Further Reading