Don DeLillo

One of the most prolific contemporary novelists, Don DeLillo (1936-present) has written 17 novels in his lifetime thus far. He has also worked as a playwright, essayist, and short story writer. DeLillo's work is characterized by his fictionalization of historical events and his remarks on consumerism, conformity, and politics. DeLillo is today most famous for his critically acclaimed novels, including Libra (1988), White Noise (1985), and Mao II (1991).

Don DeLillo Biography

Don DeLillo was born in New York City in 1936. Born into a working-class Italian family, DeLillo grew up speaking both English and Italian. He found an interest in reading and writing when he spent hours alone working as a parking attendant in high school. DeLillo read predominantly modernist writers like William Faulkner, James Joyce, and Flannery O'Connor. DeLillo graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx in 1958.

DeLillo began his writing career as a copywriter for an advertising agency. He published his first short story, "The River Jordan," in Cornell's literary magazine in 1960. He quit his job in the advertising industry in 1964 and began work on his first novel in 1966. Americana (1971) was published four years later and marked DeLillo's introduction to the literary world.

Fig. 1 - Before DeLillo became a writer, he worked for an advertising company in New York.

By 1978, DeLillo had written five more novels: End Zone (1972), Great Jones Street (1973), Ratner’s Star (1976), Players (1977), and Running Dog (1978). These novels covered topics as diverse as nuclear war, football, mathematics, aliens, and pornographic films starring Adolf Hitler.

DeLillo was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1978, which allowed him to travel to the Middle East and Greece. There, he wrote the sports novel Amazons (1980), published under a pseudonym, and the thriller The Names (1982).

In 1985, DeLillo published his eighth novel, White Noise, which won him the National Book Award for fiction. It was this novel that introduced DeLillo to the public as a prominent author and earned him a spot in the cannon of postmodernist novelists. It was followed by the bestselling novel Libra (1988) and the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel Mao II (1991).

After Mao II was published, DeLillo disappeared from the public eye for years as he wrote Underworld (1997). It was an instant success and has become acclaimed as DeLillo's best novel. It won the American Book Award in 1998, the Jerusalem Prize in 1999, and the William Dean Howells Medal and Riccardo Bacchelli International Award in 2000.

At the turn of the century, DeLillo shifted to writing shorter novels. These novels include The Body Artist (2001), Cosmopolis (2003), Falling Man (2007), Point Omega (2010), Zero K (2016), and The Silence (2020). He has also been an active playwright since 1979.

Today, Don DeLillo lives with his wife in Bronxville in New York City. He is currently working with the Library of America to publish a collection of three of his major works from the 1980s. This volume is expected to be published in late 2022.

Don DeLillo Writing Style

DeLillo is situated in the category of postmodernist writers. As is common in postmodernism, much of DeLillo's work is characterized by metafiction, historical and political references, intertextuality, unrealistic plots, and unreliable narration. He is well-known for fictionalizing historical events and looking toward the future. He writes on a diverse range of categories, from Hitler and Nazi Germany to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

DeLillo's writing style shifts slightly in each of his novels. In order to accurately portray his narrators, the syntax and diction he employs change based on the context of his novels. At times DeLillo uses technical jargon and pretentious language to deliberately characterize his characters. Other times he is more descriptive and poetic, including internal rhyme in his sentences and focusing closely on how the words look on the page. In short, DeLillo's writing style is adaptable and distinct depending on the subject of his novels.

Don DeLillo Books

DeLillo has written 17 novels (with one more co-written under a pseudonym) and one collection of short stories. Some of his most famous books are Libra (1988), White Noise (1985), and Mao II (1991).

Libra (1988)

DeLill's 1988 novel Libra was a huge success, although it was met with mixed reviews from critics. A work of historical fiction, Libra dives into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald from his childhood to his death. In the novel, the CIA conspires to murder John F. Kennedy because they are disillusioned by his response to the Bay of Pigs invasion. Oswald, an overt communist who is outcast from American society because of his political views, is the perfect scapegoat for them. Oswald kills Kennedy and is later arrested by Dallas police. Oswald is murdered by a nightclub owner, following orders from the CIA.

Fig. 2 - Libra is a work of historical fiction, influenced by the assassination of JFK.

White Noise (1985)

DeLillo's eighth novel, White Noise (1985), is generally considered the work that cemented DeLillo's status as a successful novelist and introduced DeLillo to a wider audience. White Noise follows college professor Jack Gladney, who is the department chair of Hitler studies. He and his wife live with four of their children from earlier marriages. An airborne toxic substance from a burning train car causes the entire town to evacuate. When Jack learns that he has become exposed to this toxin, he is forced to confront his own mortality.

Jack later discovers that his wife is cheating on him with a man named Mr. Gray, who supplies her with Dylar. Dylar is a fictional drug that is used to treat the terror of death. However, it doesn't work for Jack's wife, and she experiences its dangerous side effects. Jack decides to find his own supply of Dylar as his fixation on his own mortality grows. He goes after Mr. Gray, hoping that killing him will alleviate his own fear of death. Although Jack shoots the man, Jack's conscience takes over and he saves Mr. Gray by taking him to a hospital. Jack returns home to watch his children sleep.

Mao II (1991)

Mao II was published in 1991 and won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1992. In this story, struggling novelist Bill Gray lives as a recluse in order to keep his writing pure from outside influences. He fears that terrorism is devaluing the art of writing. When he is presented with an opportunity by his former editor, Bill travels to London to advocate the release of a writer being held hostage in Lebanon. Bill decides to go to Lebanon himself to negotiate the Swiss writer's release. He is hit by a car and dies in his sleep after suffering from a lacerated liver. The hostage's future is unknown.

Don DeLillo Essays

In addition to his work as a novelist, DeLillo also wrote a variety of essays. His essays were published in magazines like Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Harper, and Granta. DeLillo's essays cover a variety of topics, from the assassination of JFK to the events of September 11, 2001, to essays introducing his upcoming novels.

DeLillo's first major essay was published in Rolling Stone in 1983. It was entitled "American Blood: A Journey through the Labyrinth of Dallas and JFK." Written five years before his novel Libra, this essay introduced DeLillo's fascination with the assassination of JFK.

He again responded to American history with his 2001 essay "In the Ruins of the Future." In this essay, DeLillo considers the future of America after the terrorism and tragedy of 9/11.

Fig. 1 - Before DeLillo became a writer, he worked for an advertising company in New York.

Don DeLillo Quotes

Below are some of DeLillo's most famous quotes.

This quote was included in Conversations with Don DeLillo (2005), a written collection of interviews that DeLillo has given throughout his career. For years, DeLillo refused interviews, cautiously staying away from them. After the success of White Noise, however, he decided it was time to connect with his readers. This quote shows one example of DeLillo's understanding of the nature of fiction and its purpose in the broader context of the world.

In this quote from DeLillo's White Noise, the narrator comments on society's shared humanity and communal fears. White Noise centers around the overwhelming human fear of death. Although everyone experiences fear, somehow, we are all able to function and continue living despite knowing that we will inevitably die. While fear might drive us apart and limit us, the narrator suggests it also unites and connects us.

This quotation comes from DeLillo's tenth novel, Mao II. Mao II speaks to terrorism and the impact the media has on society. In this quote, DeLillo mourns the loss of individuality and independent thinking and the shift towards conformity and mass consciousness. As terrorism takes hold and people begin to accept everything the media tells them as truth, no one thinks for themselves. This quote can be read as a caution against mob mentality and the loss of individuality.