Don DeLillo

End Zone

jack

i had it in my head while reading this that this was his first book, but it is actually his second. still, this is written with such incredible confidence that it is hard to believe this isn't four or five books into his idiosyncratic style. this is my favorite delillo so far. the concern with language, beauty, asceticism, blackness in america, sports, and destruction are all so well-handled. structurally, this book is somewhat shocking and follows delillo's anti-climactic style but with a bit more flare. it was hard to read this having read infinite jest, as DFW rips so much directly from this book. eschaton, the sportscaster kid, and the premise of hyper-educated, pseudo-intellectual athletes all in one secluded space are all present. as are many other things that are potential spoilers for either book.
delillo's characters are not characters, but people. this makes it hard to read and harder to sit with but i think his characters are the ones that best represent what it feels like to lead a modern american life.

End Zone

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