About
Donald Richard DeLillo, born November 20, 1936 in the Bronx, New York, is a major figure of American literary postmodernism. A graduate of Fordham University in 1958, he worked as an advertising copywriter before publishing his first novel, Americana, in 1971. He is the author of seventeen novels, as well as short stories, plays, and a screenplay. His work explores themes of consumerism, media, violence, and paranoia in contemporary America. He has received numerous honors, including the National Book Award for White Noise (1985), the PEN/Faulkner Award for Mao II (1992), and the William Dean Howells Medal for Underworld (1997). He was also the first American to receive the Jerusalem Prize (1999).
* 1936-11-20
Major works
- Americana (1971)novel
- White Noise (1985)novel
- Libra (1988)novel
- Mao II (1991)novel
- Underworld (1997)novel
Key milestones
- 1985Wins the National Book Award for White Noise.
- 1999First American writer to receive the Jerusalem Prize.
- 2013Receives the inaugural Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.
Themes
Consumerism and mass cultureMedia and technologyViolence and terrorismParanoia and conspiracyAmerican identity
Sources: id.loc.gov · nationalbook.org · thebookerprizes.com