Literary Fiction · DarkA professor of Hitler studies faces his fear of death after a chemical cloud drifts over his college town
White Noise
by Don DeLillo
After a toxic cloud passes over his town, a professor cannot stop thinking about death
Jack Gladney is a professor of Hitler studies and the narrator. He lives with his wife Babette and their children and stepchildren in Blacksmith, a college town. A chemical spill from a rail car releases a dark cloud, the town is evacuated, and Jack's exposure makes him face his own mortality. Later he learns that Babette has been seeing a man she calls Mr. Gray to get Dylar, an experimental drug for the fear of death, and he goes looking for the same drug.
More about this book
Who
Jack Gladney, a professor, his wife Babette, their children, and his colleague Murray Jay Siskind.
World
The college town of Blacksmith, over about a year. The place is never named but evokes the Midwest.
What makes it different
It has three parts, a fragmented structure and a lot of dialogue. DeLillo wanted to call it Panasonic, but the trademark owner objected.
Feel
Satirical and unsettling. It won the 1985 National Book Award for Fiction, and Noah Baumbach made it into a 2022 Netflix film.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- White NoiseWikipedia