"The second plane, by the time the second plane appears,” he said, “we’re all a little older and wiser.”
April 5, 2007 6:28 PM Subscribe
An excerpt from Don DeLillo's eagerly anticipated and much-hyped new novel Falling Man. It's been done before, at times more memorably [.pdf] than others, but early reviews suggest a return to form for the eerily prescient novelist.
I'm green with evby, Lentrohamsanin. I've seen them going on eBay for upwards of $40. I pre-ordered from Amazon so I'll have to wait. So happy they pushed the date forward though.
So how is it, uh...good?
posted by inoculatedcities at 7:03 PM on April 5, 2007
So how is it, uh...good?
posted by inoculatedcities at 7:03 PM on April 5, 2007
"evby" is what they're calling "envy" these days, obviously...
posted by inoculatedcities at 7:04 PM on April 5, 2007
posted by inoculatedcities at 7:04 PM on April 5, 2007
Haven't had a chance to start it yet (I think the last thing I read by him was Ratner's Star), but a co-worker says it's very good, very dark.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:05 PM on April 5, 2007
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:05 PM on April 5, 2007
Hey guys in the biz: don't sell your gallies before the pub date. Super gauche. They're usually worth more later anyway.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:06 PM on April 5, 2007
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:06 PM on April 5, 2007
Very much looking forward to the book, if I can get a digital copy once it's released. DeLillo good.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:49 PM on April 5, 2007
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:49 PM on April 5, 2007
a "prescient writer" who now has a forthcoming novel about 9/11?
posted by Postroad at 8:07 PM on April 5, 2007
posted by Postroad at 8:07 PM on April 5, 2007
I just re-read White Noise a few weeks ago...and man, he really is prescient. He even predicted the prosthetic flipper 22 years ahead of time.
I'm not kidding. Look it up. Page 29, Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century edition.
posted by obvious at 9:15 PM on April 5, 2007
I'm not kidding. Look it up. Page 29, Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century edition.
posted by obvious at 9:15 PM on April 5, 2007
I found Underworld really hard going. Does anyone else struggle with Mr DeLillo's genius?
posted by rhymer at 1:36 AM on April 6, 2007
posted by rhymer at 1:36 AM on April 6, 2007
"Return to form?"
Geez. Underworld was pretty on-form, I thought.
posted by mykescipark at 2:45 AM on April 6, 2007
Geez. Underworld was pretty on-form, I thought.
posted by mykescipark at 2:45 AM on April 6, 2007
(...and yes, Cosmopolis, but aren't we in a bit of a hurry to condemn an author when s/he spits out one book that seems like a retread?)
posted by mykescipark at 2:47 AM on April 6, 2007
posted by mykescipark at 2:47 AM on April 6, 2007
I read that story yesterday. It was great. I love his earlier work (White Noise for ex.) but didn't love Underworld. (Didn't hate it either, but it just didn't feel as amazing to me.)
I'm so looking forward to this new book.
posted by miss tea at 4:34 AM on April 6, 2007
I'm so looking forward to this new book.
posted by miss tea at 4:34 AM on April 6, 2007
Hey guys in the biz: don't sell your gallies before the pub date.
And it leads to things like Against the Day galleys only being available at the last moment (if at all).
posted by drezdn at 6:23 AM on April 6, 2007
I thought that White Noise was genius, and recall quite enjoying Mao II. But Cosmopolis was utter shit.
posted by Slothrup at 7:59 AM on April 6, 2007
posted by Slothrup at 7:59 AM on April 6, 2007
I enjoyed Mao II and Libra, and appreciated White Noise(though I imagine I'll like it better in middle age), but I couldn't really get into his first book (America something).
posted by drezdn at 8:09 AM on April 6, 2007
posted by drezdn at 8:09 AM on April 6, 2007
Postroad: Yes, what's so hard to understand about that? Have you read any of his other books?
mykescipark: Point taken, but then again, you could (from what I can tell) call the sort of novel Falling Man is likely to be much more DeLillo-ian than his previous two books, Cosmopolis and, especially, The Body Artist -- which were distinct departures in style, the latter far more so than the former. But I get what you are saying and mostly agree.
drezdn: Americana. If you didn't like it you might just not be into his really early stuff but give End Zone a try. A very underrated novel, especially for one (somewhat) concerning football.
posted by inoculatedcities at 8:54 AM on April 6, 2007
mykescipark: Point taken, but then again, you could (from what I can tell) call the sort of novel Falling Man is likely to be much more DeLillo-ian than his previous two books, Cosmopolis and, especially, The Body Artist -- which were distinct departures in style, the latter far more so than the former. But I get what you are saying and mostly agree.
drezdn: Americana. If you didn't like it you might just not be into his really early stuff but give End Zone a try. A very underrated novel, especially for one (somewhat) concerning football.
posted by inoculatedcities at 8:54 AM on April 6, 2007
Only 256 pages? Ha ha ha! I laugh at you Don DeLillo. Give me 1,000 pg + novels with story strands that come and go with no middle, beginning, end. What? I don't have to use Wikipedia for every page? No esoteric topics? And you call yourself pomo.
posted by geoff. at 9:34 AM on April 6, 2007
posted by geoff. at 9:34 AM on April 6, 2007
I have read no books on 9/11, but somehow I've managed to learn about this event through other media. This may be the book on 9/11 that I actually read.
White Noise story: I got a trade paperback of that with the cover cropped; my ex-sister-in-law delivered it with a bunch of self-help books and bodice-rippers with similarly-cropped covers. She explained to me that these books were unsold copies that publishers had agreed to make available to prisoners—the basket of books she presented to me were some of the books that even the jailbirds wouldn't read.
I'd never heard of Don DeLillo, but in my arrogance, I suspected that I might like White Noise if the entire incarcerated population of Virginia rejected it. I did not have any such thoughts in re: the bodice rippers. This turned out to be one of the few times that my arrogance paid a dividend.
The flip side of arrogance is often naivete; I learned this lesson in the Hollywood Video on Washington Avenue several years ago. This store has a bulletin board listing upcoming releases; one of the titles on the board was Underworld. "That's coming out on video? Was it ever in theaters?" I inquired of a young female clerk. I did not have cable TV at the time, so I got most of my information through the City Paper.
The clerk quickly sized me up as a messy-haired weirdo, and let me know that the theatrical release of Underworld had been no big secret. "Wow," I said, "did you ever read the book?"
She looked a bit stunned. "I don't think there was a book," she told me.
"Haha, of course there was a book. It's only Don DeLillo's best-known work!"
"Were there vampires in it?" she asked, pointing to an Underworld poster and smiling.
"Ah. I see. "
posted by Mister_A at 9:44 AM on April 6, 2007
White Noise story: I got a trade paperback of that with the cover cropped; my ex-sister-in-law delivered it with a bunch of self-help books and bodice-rippers with similarly-cropped covers. She explained to me that these books were unsold copies that publishers had agreed to make available to prisoners—the basket of books she presented to me were some of the books that even the jailbirds wouldn't read.
I'd never heard of Don DeLillo, but in my arrogance, I suspected that I might like White Noise if the entire incarcerated population of Virginia rejected it. I did not have any such thoughts in re: the bodice rippers. This turned out to be one of the few times that my arrogance paid a dividend.
The flip side of arrogance is often naivete; I learned this lesson in the Hollywood Video on Washington Avenue several years ago. This store has a bulletin board listing upcoming releases; one of the titles on the board was Underworld. "That's coming out on video? Was it ever in theaters?" I inquired of a young female clerk. I did not have cable TV at the time, so I got most of my information through the City Paper.
The clerk quickly sized me up as a messy-haired weirdo, and let me know that the theatrical release of Underworld had been no big secret. "Wow," I said, "did you ever read the book?"
She looked a bit stunned. "I don't think there was a book," she told me.
"Haha, of course there was a book. It's only Don DeLillo's best-known work!"
"Were there vampires in it?" she asked, pointing to an Underworld poster and smiling.
"Ah. I see. "
posted by Mister_A at 9:44 AM on April 6, 2007
Mister_A: I actually had a very similar experience with a fellow on a bus when I was finishing Underworld after putting it down halfway some years before.
"Aww, I love that book."
"Oh yeah? Big DeLillo fan?"
"Well, I only saw the movie, but that shit was insane."
"The movie?"
posted by inoculatedcities at 11:54 AM on April 6, 2007
"Aww, I love that book."
"Oh yeah? Big DeLillo fan?"
"Well, I only saw the movie, but that shit was insane."
"The movie?"
posted by inoculatedcities at 11:54 AM on April 6, 2007
I will always treasure End Zone -- it feels like the kind of book that he would not be able to write now that he's considered important, and more's the pity.
posted by escabeche at 12:34 PM on April 6, 2007
posted by escabeche at 12:34 PM on April 6, 2007
"I found Underworld really hard going".
Agreed. I've tried that book twice, and given up on it twice. I don't know if that makes it a bad book, but it certainly wasn't for me.
posted by dbarefoot at 9:31 PM on April 6, 2007
Agreed. I've tried that book twice, and given up on it twice. I don't know if that makes it a bad book, but it certainly wasn't for me.
posted by dbarefoot at 9:31 PM on April 6, 2007
The clerk quickly sized me up as a messy-haired weirdo, and let me know that the theatrical release of Underworld had been no big secret. "Wow," I said, "did you ever read the book?"
You're going to be really disappointed with "White Noise" starring Michael Keaton.
posted by bobo123 at 11:05 PM on April 6, 2007
You're going to be really disappointed with "White Noise" starring Michael Keaton.
posted by bobo123 at 11:05 PM on April 6, 2007
Only 256 pages?
His last two, Cosmopolis and The Body Artist, were only 100 pages or so. I think those are the 2 that spawned the "return to form" comment (though I liked both of those better than Players, or Running Dog.)
posted by mrgrimm at 9:17 AM on April 7, 2007
His last two, Cosmopolis and The Body Artist, were only 100 pages or so. I think those are the 2 that spawned the "return to form" comment (though I liked both of those better than Players, or Running Dog.)
posted by mrgrimm at 9:17 AM on April 7, 2007
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Ha! I think DeLillo's a genius. That is all.
(Oh--and this, a diagram of exactly how this thread will proceed.)
posted by HerArchitectLover at 6:54 PM on April 5, 2007 [2 favorites]