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OverviewApocalyptic Ruin and Everyday Wonder in Don DeLillo’s America is a fresh and engaging study of “last things” in Don DeLillo’s works—things like death, mourning, and the decline of the American empire, but then also the apocalypse, the last judgment, and the end of the world more generally. Michael Naas untangles complex themes in short, witty chapters that highlight and celebrate DeLillo’s inventive and playful writing, employing a novel approach to literary criticism. Making no use of secondary sources, the book is entirely a discussion of DeLillo's work, accessible to any level of readership while maintaining a firm grasp of the theory necessary to make this unique argument. And yet, this book is also about all the things that double or shadow those last things in the very same works, like the wonder of language or the radiance of everyday events. From Americana (1971) up through Zero K (2016) and The Silence (2020), and perhaps like no other American author, Don DeLillo has created meaning by contrasting, juxtaposing or, as Naas calls it here, “contrabanding” first and last things, conflicting or opposing forces such as life and death, creation and destruction, consumption and waste, everyday wonder and apocalyptic ruin, the origins of language and the end of the world. In his adept demonstration of how DeLillo has returned repeatedly to these “last things,” Naas shows how the works of Don DeLillo have been there for more than half a century to remind us of one simple and yet profound truth—nothing lasts forever. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Prof Michael Naas (DePaul University, USA)Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic USA ISBN: 9781501390685ISBN 10: 1501390686 Pages: 272 Publication Date: 17 November 2022 Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , General/trade , Professional & Vocational , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsAbbreviations of Works by Don DeLillo Preface: Last Things 1. Countermovements America...New York, New York... USA! USA! USA! ...The West, the Desert, and, Inevitably, California...Automobiles...Airplanes...Beyond America 2. Countercurrents Sports, Games, Sports Gaming...Academia...Philosophy...Technologies of Life and Death 3. Counterproductions Empire, Capital, the Corporation...Money...Advertising...Consumerism and Waste 4. Counterhistories American History 2.0...Terrorism...9-11, The Twin Towers...Creation and Ruin...War and Peace 5. Countermeasures Self and Others...The Individual and the Crowd...Prophylactics and Purifications...The Shit, the Shower, the Shave, and the Haircut 6. Counterforces Life and Death...Mourning...The Afterlife...The Apocalypse...The Omega Point, the Death Drive 7. Counterworlds Space...Time...Space-Time...Religion... Miracles...The Everyday...Earth, Moon, Sun...Radiance Conclusion: Silent Mode (The Future of Contraband) AcknowledgementsReviewsMichael Naas's Apocalyptic Ruin and Everyday Wonder in Don DeLillo's America displays a thorough knowledge and an impressive thematic cartography of Don DeLillo's oeurve. This invaluable synthesis, which consider's DeLillo's work through the lens of contrabanding, illuminates the contradictions that make America what it is and confirms DeLillo's magisterial and uninterrupted examination of America as a country and as an idea. * Karim Daanoune, Associate Professor in American Literature, Universite Paul Valery-Montpellier, France * In Apocalyptic Ruin and Everyday Wonder in Don DeLillo's America, Michael Naas artfully delineates the dense web of thematic crosscurrents and connections that run through DeLillo's entire oeuvre. Naas foregrounds the pleasure of reading DeLillo, allowing the humour of the works to be reflected in his own distinctive and accessible writing style. Naas reads DeLillo's fiction as a body of theoretical enquiry in itself rather than applying existing theory and criticism, making this an innovative and necessary addition to scholarship. * Rebecca Harding, Independent Scholar, UK * Michael Naas's Apocalyptic Ruin and Everyday Wonder in Don DeLillo's America displays a thorough knowledge and an impressive thematic cartography of Don DeLillo's oeurve. This invaluable synthesis, which consider's DeLillo's work through the lens of contrabanding, illuminates the contradictions that make America what it is and confirms DeLillo's magisterial and uninterrupted examination of America as a country and as an idea. * Karim Daanoune, Associate Professor in American Literature, Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier, France * In Apocalyptic Ruin and Everyday Wonder in Don DeLillo’s America, Michael Naas artfully delineates the dense web of thematic crosscurrents and connections that run through DeLillo’s entire oeuvre. Naas foregrounds the pleasure of reading DeLillo, allowing the humour of the works to be reflected in his own distinctive and accessible writing style. Naas reads DeLillo’s fiction as a body of theoretical enquiry in itself rather than applying existing theory and criticism, making this an innovative and necessary addition to scholarship. * Rebecca Harding, Independent Scholar, UK * A helpful read for both undergraduate and postgraduate students … Apocalyptic Ruin presents a well-rounded, often witty and entertaining commentary on DeLillo’s oeuvre. * Forum for Modern Language Studies * Author InformationMichael Naas is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University, USA. He is the author of Don DeLillo, American Original: Drugs, Weapons, Erotica, and Other Literary Contraband (Bloomsbury, 2020). Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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