Americana

by Don DeLillo

Overview

At twenty-eight, David Bell is the American dream come true. He has fought his way to the top, surviving office purges and scandals to become a top television executive. David's world is made up of the images that flicker across America's screens, the fantasies that enthrall America's imagination. And then the dream--and the dream-making--become a nightmare. At the height of his success, David sets out to rediscover reality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140119480
Publisher:	Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date:	07/28/1989
Series:	Contemporary American Fiction Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	111,190
Product dimensions:	5.14(w) x 7.86(h) x 0.71(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The author of thirteen novels, five plays, and numerous short stories, Don DeLillo was born in 1936. Americana (1971), his first novel, announced the arrival of a major literary talent, and the novels that followed confirmed his reputation as one of the most distinctive and compelling voices in late-twentieth-century American fiction. DeLillo's comic gifts come to the fore in White Noise (1985), which won the National Book Award, and Underworld (1997), with its vivid portraits of actor Jackie Gleason and standup comedian Lenny Bruce.

Hometown:

Westchester County, New York

Date of Birth:

November 20, 1936

Place of Birth:

New York City

Education:

Fordham University, 1958

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Nearly every sentence of Americana rings true, an insistence upon the authenticity behind the stereotypes....DeLillo is a man of frightening perception." —Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit Sunday News

Editorial Reviews

"Nearly every sentence of Americana rings true, an insistence upon the authenticity behind the stereotypes....DeLillo is a man of frightening perception." —Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit Sunday News

From the Publisher

In search of his roots, a successful but unhappy TV executive takes off for the heartland of America. ``This first novel is peopled with characters alienated not only from one another, but from themselves. It has the smell of staleness and despair. It is also, with its deadly accurate observations, its veracious dialogue, and its consistency of view, brilliantly written,'' maintained PW. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

"Nearly every second of 'Americana' rings true, and insisted upon the authenticity becomes stereotypes....DeLillo is a man of frightened perception."

Joyce Carol Oates

"The language soars in depth, under them parts a great deal." -- New York Times

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

"Don DeLillo's swift, ironic, witty cross-country American nightmare doesn't have a dull or unoriginal line." -- Rolling Stones

Nelson Algian