Falling Man
by Don DeLillo · first published 2007
80% recommend20% neutral
Escaping from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, Keith Neudecker makes his way to the uptown apartment where his ex-wife and young son are living and considers how the day's events have irrevocably changed his perception of the world.
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Pretty much all of his work is highly recommended! He's famous for White Noise and Cosmopolis (there was a movie with the guy from Twilight), but Mao and Falling Man are probably my favorites. Delillo and Cormac McCarthy are two current authors I would expect to be read 100 years from now.
on “Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135 (1993)” ↗When it comes to post-Underworld DeLillo, as far as I am concerned his major novel of that period, and really the only work that sticks in the memory after a few weeks (and I have read them all) is Falling Man. If you are asking about books from any period of his output, then White Noise can be recommended, I personally see it as his greatest achievement. Underworld gets a lot of hype due to its sheer length…
on “The Genius of Don DeLillo’s Post-Underworld Work (2016)” ↗He's probably my favorite living author (although to be honest I mostly read books by long dead authors). I've read a few. I think Libra was the best one. I also read Falling Man, Cosmopolis, and The Body Artist. He has a wonderful writing style. I've been trying to get through Ratner's Star for years. It's not bad but I suppose it's just not the most compelling.
on “Don DeLillo deserves the Nobel” ↗Falling Man seemed to me to capture what happened to the American psyche post 9/11 better than anything else that I've read. As far as I can tell we're collectively still falling.
on “The Genius of Don DeLillo’s Post-Underworld Work (2016)” ↗…He's written about everything from foreign policy (The Names), to academia (White Noise, Ratner's Star), to JFK's assassination (Libra), to the Cold War (Underworld), to finance (Cosmopolis), to 9/11 (Falling Man), to the Iraq War (Point Omega), to start-up culture and worship of technology (Zero K).
on “Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135 (1993)” ↗