White Noise

Don DeLillo

Jun 1999 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

This book was an engaging and interesting read, focusing on the life of a professor, his wife, and their large extended family. The narrative is packed with ironic and often very humorous descriptions of the absurdities of modern life. The story focuses on the characters, their relationships, and their psychological torments. Specifically, the book tends to dwell on the characters’ feelings about death and destruction. It also contains many humorous scenes revealing various shortcomings concerning education and disinformation. Although the book begins with a lighthearted tone, it becomes darker and darker as the story progresses. Overall, the vivid descriptions and exaggerated situations make this book very fun to read.

Why did I waste my time? There is no emotion in this book. The story is superficial. The characters are unbelievable and unlikable.

This didn't have anything to do about the game white noise but if it doesn't can someone explain?

About the author

Don DeLillo published his first short story when he was twenty-three years old. He has since written twelve novels, including White Noise (1985) which won the National Book Award. It was followed by Libra (1988), his novel about the assassination of President Kennedy, and by Mao II, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

In 1997, he published the bestselling Underworld, and in 1999 he was awarded the Jerusalem Prize, given to a writer whose work expresses the theme of the freedom of the individual in society; he was the first American author to receive it. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.