White Noise

I found this book hysterically funny, and the dialogue more imaginative than any book I’ve ever read. The characters are without equal in terms of their originality, including the children of Jack and Babette Gladney.

The sheer number of meaningful topics this story covers is also without equal. The author’s observations are extremely keen. At its core, it is about the fear of death, though it is not a depressing story in any sense. It’s no wonder why it won the 1985 National Book Award.

I couldn't stop smiling as I listened to the bizarre story of Jack Gladney, professor of Hitler studies, and the travails of his strange, colorful blended family as they deal with an 'airborne toxic event'.

When Jack finds out that his wife is taking an experimental drug, he determines to find out why, and the reason gives the third act a real poignancy, even if it's no less bizarre than what preceded it. White Noise is a lot fun to read; a modern masterpiece. 

Mortality. White Noise is not so much a novel. To me, it's more of a wildly amusing collection of clever observations about life. The book's protagonist is a professor of Hitler studies, something he invented. And that's not the last thing he invents. He's invented a patchwork family of absurd proportions. In fact, he invents so much that he doesn't know what to believe. And there we are at the center of this novel: what can we believe in when we don't even know if death is finite or if there is life after death. The absurdity of mortality… show more.