White Noise
By Don DeLillo
- Release Date: 1985-01-21
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
A brilliant satire of mass culture and the numbing effects of technology, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, a teacher of Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in Middle America. Jack and his fourth wife, Babette, bound by their love, fear of death, and four ultramodern offspring, navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. Then a lethal black chemical cloud, unleashed by an industrial accident, floats over there lives, an "airborne toxic event" that is a more urgent and visible version of the white noise engulfing the Gladneys—the radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, and TV murmurings that constitute the music of American magic and dread.
Reviews
DeLillo’s Frightening Crystal Ball
4By Tew312He never disappoints. While I’m sure he intended every page to be bristling with satire, this Reader, re-encountering those pages almost forty years later, finds it to be an insightful commentary, a piece of Non-Fiction depicting Suburban Consumerism in Pandemic, Facebook America. White Noise captures every nuance of our technology-driven lives as our Death-obsessed Anti-Hero tries to cope with the day-to-day realities of Professional, Social and Family Life under the damaging influence of a Plague and the realization of his wife’s and children’s exposure to the Modern World’s overwhelming noise. This novel could have been written in 2020. DeLillo’s prescience earned him Four Stars. ****Finally finished
1By aubreeabrilI’ve never finished a book I hated as much as this one so I guess that’s something. My book club picked this because it’s being adapted for film but I hated it so much I’m not going to want to see itFirst Delillo Book
4By Mbb10692Good blend of humor and story. Well-developed characters. A bit abrupt near the end.Lame
1By dankreaderjWay too many unnecessary parts in this book which cause the plot to be long and boring.White Noise
1By Exiled TexanBrilliant writing. But dead. DeLillo writes characters as though he hoped never to have to meet or know any of them. Useful puppets. They make the arguments he wants to make about the artificiality of modern consumer society. They—and the events DeLillo drags us through—are otherwise without either depth or interest.Wow
3By Help, Zynga!!!I alternate between thinking he is so brilliantly funny or on some sort of drug. Weird and wonderful , but surely not everyone’s cup of tea. You have to “get it”.white noise
5By Whim1954wow! what an amazing book. a true classic. love the character development. plot is strange, but the writing superb.Possibly DeLillo Best
5By Lukester2012Thoroughly hilarious, clever and exceptionally creative/imaginative. Profoundly affecting.My favorite book
5By KramericaaConstantly mesmerizing. The whole book is a highlight. Highlights within highlights. Godlike prose. Narration and dialogue. All characters. Hysterical arid-sarcasm. So much so, I wonder how many pick up on it. Not one to wolf down. Chew slowly, let it stick to the palette, marinate the mind. I've read it 5 times. Not nearly enough.It's not written to excite you.
3By WestD21It's written to make you think about the direction of our culture. Do we even notice catastrophic events any more? What would DeLillo say about today's social media craze?