White Noise by Don DeLillo

This novel was on the Times Top 100 list. Some time ago I read that DeLillo is "the most important writer of the 20th Century." So I decided to try him. I should have been warned by the fact that, in the edition I bought, the novel took 325 pages and the remaining 200 pages were devoted to critical essays explaining the novel--never a good sign.

The plot, as such, is easy to summarize. The first third is composed of short chapters detailing the daily lives of Jack Gladney, a Professor of Hitler Studies at a small college, his wife Babette, and five of their children from various previous marriages. They watch television (seemingly constantly), shop at the supermarket and the mall, and the children spout facts (often humorously erroneous) that they have gleaned from TV. This part resembles a family sit-com more than anything.

The next section tells of an "airborne toxic event" which forces the town to evacuate temporarily, exposing Jack to toxins which may or may not lead to his death in 15 or more years. Jack becomes obsessed with a fear of death, only to discover that his wife has long been similarly obsessed, and has taken an experimental drug to help her cope with the fear. Though the drug did not work for her, Jack becomes convinced that he needs to try it.

The third section concerns Jack's rising fears about death and his search to find the man who gave the drugs to Babette (she won't tell; she promised). The eventual confrontation solves nothing, and the ending is enigmatic and non-conclusive.

So I read some (not all) of the critical essays and found that this is a "post-modern" novel. Evidently that means that the author provides a minimum of linear plot; employs irony and satire to reveal the perils of living in today's world; utilizes a restructuring of various literary genres. And so it goes.

While this book was often very humorous, I certainly would not put it in the Top 100 of the 20th Century. The novels Catch 22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Slaughterhouse 5 were also mentioned in the critical essays as post-modern novels. Those authors did it much better. I don't believe I will read another DeLillo book.