Don DeLillo
1988
Around 480 pages
I have not been clicking with Don DeLillo so far, but we finally connected, and I may be changing my opinion on him. It's like going out on a date with somebody because you are bored, and then surprisingly having a fun time. Non fiction novels suit the man.
Basically, we get a fictionalized/totally accurate story of the JFK assassination. A group of CIA agents who were unhappy with the Bay of Pigs fiasco orchestrate the killing using Lee Harvey Oswald, who was an easy scapegoat with his Soviet Union ties.
This isn't a historical mystery that fascinates me. I don't find JFK to be a particularly sympathetic victim, and the cover up is so obvious that there's not much intrigue for me there. Of course, it's different if you were alive then, but by the time I hit the streets, this was old news. That being said, this is a meticulously crafted story and DeLillo paints a compelling portrait of Oswald.
Definitely my favorite DeLillo so far, I'll be interested to see where he goes from here.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Won the first International Fiction Prize sponsored by The Irish Times as well as a nomination for the 1988 National Book Award for Fiction.
UP NEXT: Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
UP NEXT: Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
1 comment:
I was alive at this time, though a wee thing. It was a huge deal and now I want to read this book.
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