{"id":460,"date":"2026-01-09T15:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldgriffy.com\/?p=460"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:26:16","slug":"white-noise-delillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldgriffy.com\/?p=460","title":{"rendered":"White Noise (DeLillo)"},"content":{"rendered":"

White Noise<\/strong> is a 1985 novel by American author Don DeLillo. A significant entry in the canon of postmodern literature, White Noise tells the story of a small-town college professor whose suburban routine is shattered when a train crash results in a massive chemical spill. As the characters struggle to accept their own mortality, the book explores a range of contemporary issues including consumerism, mass media, and conspiracy theories. <\/i><\/p>\n

Jack Gladney and his wife Babette who are both afraid of death. Jack is head of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill. His colleague Murray runs a seminar on car crashes. Together they ponder the instances of celebrity death from Elvis to Marilyn to Hitler. Through the brilliant and often very funny dialogue between Jack and Murray, DeLillo exposes our common obsessions with mortality.<\/i><\/p>\n

I read this during the fires in Los Angeles. It seemed prophetic:<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019re suffering from brain fade. We need an occasional catastrophe to break up the incessant bombardment of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obvious,\u201d Lasher said. A slight man with a taut face and slicked-back hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flow is constant,\u201d Alfonse said. \u201cWords, pictures, numbers, facts, graphics, statistics, specks, waves, particles, motes. Only a catastrophe gets our attention. We want them, we need them, we depend on them. As long as they happen somewhere else. This is where California comes in. Mud slides, brush fires, coastal erosion, earthquakes, mass killings, et cetera. We can relax and enjoy these disasters because in our hearts we feel that California deserves whatever it gets. Californians invented the concept of life-style. This alone warrants their doom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

White Noise is a 1985 novel by American author Don DeLillo. A significant entry in the canon of postmodern literature, White Noise tells the story of a small-town college professor whose suburban routine is shattered when a train crash results in a massive chemical spill. As the characters struggle to accept their own mortality, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193664754,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgfYCB-7q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":357,"url":"https:\/\/oldgriffy.com\/?p=357","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":0},"title":"Kids","author":"Old Griffy","date":"December 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 Jon Monson-Foon, Stephanie Griffith, Alexa Griffith, Jack Baldwin, Tory Griffith, and Tian Griffith","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/oldgriffy.com\/?cat=1375"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oldgriffy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0619.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oldgriffy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0619.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oldgriffy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0619.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oldgriffy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0619.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oldgriffy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0619.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1441,"url":"https:\/\/oldgriffy.com\/?p=1441","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":1},"title":"Death on the Camino, Part Two","author":"Old Griffy","date":"September 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"What the dead left behind A pilgrim\u2019s possessions were usually few: a cloak, staff, bag, drinking vessel, perhaps a little money, and whatever tokens had been gathered along the way. 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