In his 1992 Paris Review interview, Don DeLillo says, “What I try to do is create complex human beings, ordinary-extraordinary men and women who live in the particular skin of the late twentieth century.” Five years later, he published his magnum opus Underworld, which The New York Times ranked as the second-best work of American fiction since 1980 (behind only Beloved). Through four class sessions over eight weeks, we’ll read Underworld alongside external interviews and responses. Together, we’ll discuss many of DeLillo’s authorial choices and storytelling ideas. This will lead us to then try out similar authorial choices in our own writing experiments. This class is for newcomers to DeLillo as well as for any long-time fans. Let’s dive deep into the deep world of post-war America and discover what DeLillo prophetically reveals about our past and our future.
Required Text: Underworld, by Don DeLillo
Scheduling Note: To allow time for reading, this class will take place every other Tuesday. The class dates are: March 18, April 1, April 15, April 29. Our website is unable to reflect this in the meeting times listed at the bottom of this page.
