- Born:
- November 20, 1936, New York, New York, U.S. (age 89)
- Awards And Honors:
- PEN/Faulkner Award (1992)
- National Book Award (1985)
- Movement / Style:
- postmodernism
Don DeLillo
-
Who is Don DeLillo?
Don DeLillo, born November 20, 1936, is an American novelist known for his postmodernist works portraying the anomie of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics.
After graduating from Fordham University in 1958, he worked as a copywriter before publishing his first novel, Americana, in 1971. DeLillo's work took a darker turn starting with Players (1977), and his 1985 novel, White Noise, won the National Book Award for fiction. Other notable works include Libra, a fictional portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald, and Underworld, a commentary on American history and culture during the Cold War.
DeLillo has also written several plays, a screenplay, and a collection of short stories. He received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction in 2013 and the National Book Awards Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2015.
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What kind of books does Don DeLillo write?
Don DeLillo is an American novelist known for his postmodernist works that explore the anomie of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics.
DeLillo's novels include Americana (1971), White Noise (1985), Libra (1988), Underworld (1997), Falling Man (2007), and Zero K (2016). In addition to novels, DeLillo has written plays, the screenplay for Game 6 (2005), and a collection of short stories titled The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories (2011).
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What is Don DeLillo’s most famous novel?
Don DeLillo, born in 1936, is an American novelist known for his postmodernist works that explore the anomie of an America consumed by material excess and mass culture.
DeLillo's novel White Noise, published in 1985, is perhaps his most famous, winning the National Book Award for fiction. The novel tells the story of a professor of Hitler studies who is exposed to an "airborne toxic event". He then discovers that his wife is taking an experimental substance to combat the fear of death, leading him to obtain the drug at any cost. Another significant work is Underworld (1997), a sprawling novel commenting on American history and culture during the Cold War era.
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What themes does Don DeLillo explore in his work?
Don DeLillo's postmodern novels explore the anomie of an America that is both cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics.
DeLillo's works often feature characters who are destructive and ignorant, set against a backdrop of elliptical prose. His narratives frequently touch on themes of political violence, as seen in Mao II, and provide commentary on American history and culture during the Cold War era, as explored in Underworld. Other notable themes include the fear of death (White Noise) and meditations on time (Point Omega).
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How has Don DeLillo influenced American literature?
Don DeLillo is an American novelist known for his postmodernist works portraying the anomie of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics.
DeLillo's work took a darker turn starting with Players, and his elliptical prose garnered critical acclaim. His novels, such as White Noise, which won the National Book Award, and Libra, explore themes of political violence, the Cold War era, and American history and culture. DeLillo received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction in 2013 and the National Book Awards Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2015.
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What awards or recognition has Don DeLillo received for his writing?
Don DeLillo, born in 1936, is an American novelist known for his postmodernist works portraying the anomie of an America affected by material excess and mass culture.
DeLillo's novel White Noise (1985) won the National Book Award for fiction. He also received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction in 2013 and the National Book Awards Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2015.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Don DeLillo (born November 20, 1936, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American novelist whose postmodernist works portray the anomie of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics.
After his graduation from Fordham University, New York City (1958), DeLillo worked for several years as a copywriter at an advertising agency. His first novel, Americana (1971), is the story of a network television executive in search of the “real” America. It was followed by End Zone (1972) and Great Jones Street (1973). Ratner’s Star (1976) attracted critical attention with its baroque comic sense and verbal facility.
Beginning with Players (1977), DeLillo’s vision turned darker, and his characters became more willful in their destructiveness and ignorance. Critics found little to like in the novel’s protagonists but much to admire in DeLillo’s elliptical prose. The thrillers Running Dog (1978) and The Names (1982), which was set mostly in Greece, followed. White Noise (1985; film 2022), which won the National Book Award for fiction, tells of a professor of Hitler studies who is exposed to an “airborne toxic event”; he discovers that his wife is taking an experimental substance said to combat the fear of death, and he vows to obtain the drug for himself at any cost. In Libra (1988) DeLillo presented a fictional portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy. Mao II (1991) opens with a mass wedding officiated by cult leader Sun Myung Moon and tells the story of a reclusive writer who becomes enmeshed in a world of political violence.
DeLillo received significant acclaim for the sprawling novel Underworld (1997), which provides a commentary on American history and culture in the Cold War era, in part by tracing the imagined journeys of the baseball that New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson hit for a pennant-winning home run in 1951. DeLillo’s subsequent works of fiction include The Body Artist (2001), about the supernatural experiences of a recent widow; Cosmopolis (2003; film 2012), set largely in a billionaire’s limousine as it moves across Manhattan; Falling Man (2007), which tells the story of a survivor of the September 11 attacks in 2001; Point Omega (2010), a meditation on time; and Zero K (2016), an investigation of cryogenics and human immortality. The Silence (2020) follows several people who attend a Super Bowl party during a worldwide calamitous event.
In addition to his novels, DeLillo wrote several plays, the screenplay to the independent film Game 6 (2005), and the short-story collection The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories (2011). He received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction in 2013 and the National Book Awards Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2015.