UNDERWORDS
Perspectives on Don Delillo's
Underworld
EDITED BY JOSEPH DEWEY, STEVEN G. KELLMAN, AND IRVING MALIN
This collection of thirteen essays marks the
first
in-depth examination of one of
the most acclaimed and highly anticipated works of American literature of the last
twenty years. Don DeLillo's 1997 masterwork
Underworld
was immediately
recognized as a landmark novel, not only in the long career of one of America's
most distinguished novelists but as well in the ongoing evolution of the postrnodern
novel and in the achievement of fin-de-millenium American literature. Vast in
scope, intricately organized, and densely allusive, the text is nothing less than a
cultural biography of postwar America, touching as it does on themes as diverse as
environmental politics, nuclear apocalypse, the deep influence of
film
and
television, the cultural positioning of sports, the disturbing psychology of
contemporary violence, the intricate patternings of language, and the cultural role of
the artist. That it does so without sacrificing the traditional elements ofnarrative-an
engrossing plot and nuanced characters---makes the text an extraordinary
achievement.
This collection brings together lively readings from both new and established
voices in critical and cultural studies. These essays are organized into a pattern of
expanding investigation, beginning with a close reading of a single pattern of
images within the text then moving to essays that examine the novel within
DeLillo's larger catalog of fiction and then essays that suggest important parallels
not only to works of authors contemporary with DeLillo but ties to canonical
works and authors of American literature. Finally the closing essays audaciously
explore the novel's achievement using baseball, the films of Stanley Kubrick, and
the tradition of comedy that dates back to Dante. Such diversity only begins to
suggest the stunning levels of interpretative possibilities at which this
mesmerizing text exists. These essays mark an important first step in engaging
the full achievement ofthis remarkable work.
Hardcover, 6 x 9 inches, works cited, notes, index, 220 pages
ISBN 0-87413-785-3, Price $39.50 (University ofDelaware Press)
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