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White Noise

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About this listen

Jack Gladney is the creator and chairman of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill. This is the story of his absurd life; a life that is going well enough, until a chemical spill from a rail car releases an 'Airborne Toxic Event' and Jack is forced to confront his biggest fear – his own mortality.

White Noise is an effortless combination of social satire and metaphysical dilemma in which Don DeLillo exposes our rampant consumerism, media saturation and novelty intellectualism. It captures the particular strangeness of life lived when the fear of death cannot be denied, repressed or obscured and ponders the role of the family in a time when the very meaning of our existence is under threat.

'America's greatest living writer.' - Observer

 Classics Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Witty

Critic reviews

America's greatest living writer.
An extraordinarily funny book on a serious subject, effortlessly combining social comedy, disaster, fiction and philosophy . . . hilariously, and grimly, successful.
An astonishing novel . . . unforgettable . . . nearly every page crackles with memorable moments and perfectly turned phrases . . . dizzying, darkly beautiful fiction.
All stars
Most relevant
Intriguing... Insightful and a paradigm shifting novel. Fascinating tone and description that takes you on a literary journey.

Test you thinking and perception

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Justifiably well known, highly original, challenging and enigmatic. Unusually for a somewhat dystopian satire on modern day anxieties, from the purely psychological to the entirely justifiable (chemical pollution especially) it doesn’t feel at all dated, wears its forty years very well. Somewhat short on rounded characters, they are mostly highly articulate mouthpieces through which deLillo explores his themes and neuroses. But tbh I’m fine with that.

The narrator was not quite to my taste but one gets used to it. Not a deal breaker.

Amazing prose. Vivid, analytical, very drily ironic.

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This had been on my to-read list for a while but I wasnt sure why - the previous reviews put me off trying it but glad I did. I really enjoyed the book, the details & charachters made it such a real story, always enjoy books that prompt you on the meaning of things. The narrator, yes I understand the reviews but once you get used to the voice, I actually think ut suits the story very well. Narrator was good at different charachters which many narrators cant pull off, esp female ones!

Dont be put off by the other reviews!

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Michael Prichard has apparently narrated over 500 audiobooks and won awards for it. Clearly not this one, though. He reads with no intonation, mispronounces common words (not a USA/UK issue) and nearly made me give up on the whole thing. I started reading the book alongside this to see how it compared, and generously wonder if the casting director thought he’d bring a sardonic flair to the reading. He didn’t. Avoid the audiobook and read the actual book, unless this isn’t an option. Perhaps with the new film adaptation, the publisher will arrange an updated audiobook book — fingers crossed.

I concur: great story, terrible narration

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classical DeLillo... deep consideration and care for describing human anxieties, interesting plot and elegantly structured

Beautifully written

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