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First Sentence
Then we came to the end of another dull and lurid year. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
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Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Definately not DeLillo's best, Jun 16 2004

By

anonymous - See all my reviews

This review is from: Americana (Paperback)

At the outset of "Americana," David Bell has fairly succeeded in securing his place in the power-driven world of Manhatten advertising. At 28, he is prosperous, good-looking, and bereft of that certain purpose and emotional substantiality one must possess to be classified as a fully sensible human being. Although I am a huge fan of Don DeLillo and his deft way of weaving sentences together to produce picturesque settings, I found myself lost in the interminable stretches this book relentlessly thrust upon me. Though DeLillo's story of a man who suspends his conventional life to seek out the American Dream within the desolate wastelands of the barren midwest is an interesting and potentially good idea, the novel falls short within its cornucopia of meandering passages, causing the reader to constantly drop out of the narrative and be reminded that they are in fact reading an overly erudite author; one who spouts bombastic sentiments that may seem a bit gratuitous on occasion. If you are a DeLillo fan, and curious about this novel (since it is his first; the main reason I was compelled to read it) then go for it, but do not expect the brilliance and penetrating qualities of his later works, such as "Mao II" and "Libra." If you are new to DeLillo and unsure of where to start, stay away from this novel, because it will possibly turn you off from an otherwise prodigious talent who has thenceforth transcended the shortcomings of "Americana" to become one of the great contemporary American writers.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but diminished by time and imitation, Jun 1 2004

By

JT (bakersfield CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Americana (Paperback)

this was the first book of his I read. It's a good novel but compard to today's world of Ellis and Palahnuik. I could see the impact it had back when is first came out, since it was a few years after "Easy rider" and has the same counter culture feel
the style and nuance of the book were greatly influtential to ninties independant cinema. the protagnist seems indifferent and at times boring. Delillos has writen fantastic novels, and this is him cutting his literary teeth

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5.0 out of 5 stars Delillo's first masterpiece, May 18 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Americana (Paperback)

Don Delillo is an amazing writer. His prose, and the ideas contained in his novels, are so powerful they sometimes make me stop and catch my breath, and that's not hyperbole. I can't think of another contemporary author that moves me so much, with the possible exception of Saul Bellow. Reading his novels is pure joy, it's a wonder on every page, it's magic. I don't say that often.

I read somewhere that "The Names" was his first great novel, so I picked up "Americana" expecting to read the work of a budding author showing only flashes of brilliance. I found the writing and ideas expressed in "Americana" to be as fresh, brilliant, and moving as in any other book of his I've read. Delillo writes beautiful, highly intelligent novels that are also page-turners, and that's a rarity. He is, quite simply, a completely original American novelist, and "Americana" is a wonderful first novel.

Delillo should win the Nobel prize for literature some day, and I'd be very disappointed if he doesn't.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars This is some kind of joke, right?
Much to the protests of the DeLillo fanbase, I decided to undertake his first novel. And what an undertaking it was. Read more

Published on Oct 2 2003 by T. Kapronica

1.0 out of 5 stars a rotten piece of "Americana"
To make sure my brain wasn't orbiting the outer limits of literary comprehension, I took a look at the one-star reviews of Don DeLillo's recent "Underworld" and found that many... Read more