Read: Mao II

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I somehow managed to miss Don DeLillo until now. His tenth book, Mao II, published in 1991, back when the world was a different place.

I somehow managed to miss Don DeLillo until now. His tenth book, Mao II, published in 1991, back when the world was a different place. A reclusive writer holed up in a hidden lair, the art world, terrorism and a mass cult wedding. Bomb blasts, literary agents and hostages in Lebanon all wound together in a strange look at the “modern world.” DeLillo’s descriptions and intimate takes on human nature are what stand out to me. A three-way relationship between damaged people, added to by a fourth who happens to be a photographer. The description of the portraiture was equally insightful. This book reads like someone rummaging through the intimate parts of life without first wasting time on the niceties. Get it, read it.

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  1. I read Underworld by Don a few years ago, and thought the first few pages were some of the most remarkable I had ever read (opens with the protagonist at a 1951 New York Giants (baseball) game. The whole book was super long (for me) and could be used as a doorstop. Not sure I actually finished it. Putting Mao II on my list, though. (And while I haven’t read White Noise, the recent movie is not for me. Not my style of movie that I like but that’s a different discussion. Might try the book anyway.)

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