The Cambridge Companion to Don DeLillo

An overview of the works and career of the postmodern American author of White Noise and Underworld.

John N. Duvall (Author)

9780521690898, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 May 2008

218 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.39 kg

'The Cambridge Companion to Don DeLillo is particularly strong in providing a detailed and well structured insight into his work against the background of post-modern theory and American contemporary experience.' Maribor International Review

With the publication of his seminal novel White Noise, Don DeLillo was elevated into the pantheon of great American writers. His novels are admired and studied for their narrative technique, political themes, and their prophetic commentary on the cultural crises affecting contemporary America. In an age dominated by the image, DeLillo's fiction encourages the reader to think historically about such matters as the Cold War, the assassination of President Kennedy, threats to the environment, and terrorism. This Companion charts the shape of DeLillo's career, his relation to twentieth-century aesthetics, and his major themes. It also provides in-depth assessments of his best-known novels, White Noise, Libra, and Underworld, which have become required reading not only for students of American literature, but for all interested in the history and the future of American culture.

Chronology
Introduction: The power of history and the persistence of mystery John N. Duvall
Part I. Aesthetic and Cultural Influences: 1. DeLillo and modernism Philip Nel
2. DeLillo, postmodernism, postmodernity Peter Knight
Part II. Early Fiction: 3. DeLillo and media culture Peter Boxall
4. DeLillo's apocalyptic satire Joseph Dewey
5. DeLillo and the political thriller Tim Engles
Part III. Major Novels: 6. White Noise Stacey Olster
7. Libra Jeremy Green
8. Underworld Patrick O'Donnell
Part IV. Themes and Issues: 9. DeLillo and masculinity Ruth Helyer
10. DeLillo's Dedealian artists Mark Osteen
11. DeLillo and the power of language David Cowart
12. DeLillo and mystery John McClure
Conclusion: Writing amid the ruins: 9/11 and Cosmopolis Joseph Conte
Select bibliography
Guides to further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]