White Noise - Picador Books

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

This seminal slice of American life, first published in 1984, is as topical and acute as ever in its ironic, knowing analysis of the preoccupations of modern America. It charts, in heartbreaking detail, the nuances of modern marriage, specifically that of Jack and Babette, lecturers at a typical college. Their family structure is complex, with teenage children from previous marriages, yet the fear of death that each of them holds drives Babette to take covert action. Meanwhile, a series of toxic waste leaks - both simulation exercises and the real thing - place Jack in a situation where he fears he may have to confront his fear of death sooner than he would like. The running joke that Jack is also taking secret German lessons (because the subject that he teaches - Hitler studies - presupposes a knowledge of the language) provides rich fodder for his conversations with his colleague Murray, who teaches seminars on celebrity deaths. The interplay between Jack and Murray is one of the highlights of the novel, with some of the most insightful dialogue you are likely to read, and Jack's relationships with the adolescents of his extended family, and their eternal thirst for knowledge, are particularly sharply observed, as is the background of endless shopping malls, psychopharmaceuticals, academic sniping, mindless television and tasteless fast food. Barely a word or thought is superfluous in this thoroughly welcome republication of a 1980s classic that has brilliantly stood the test of time, from one of America's most accomplished writers. (Kirkus UK)