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White Noise  By  cover art

White Noise

By: Don DeLillo
Narrated by: Michael Prichard
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Publisher's summary

Winner of the National Book Award, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney; his fourth wife, Babette; and four ultramodern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism.

When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event", a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys - radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings - pulsing with life yet suggesting something ominous.

©1984, 1985 Don DeLillo (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about White Noise

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    55
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  • 2 Stars
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    54

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Funny, but odd

Much of the time, the story was just too metaphorical for me. As a story, it often felt out of control. Not my thing.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sarcasm

Sarcastic and sardonic book. Interesting nonetheless. Narrator has vocal tics. I like that the story portrayed the messiness of life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very nice book

I loved it but it's a little confused, so pay attention while reading. The story is very interesting

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

unique does not make for good

Unique story, if there is a story. I tried to find meaning. Found I was glad to be done with it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator is superlative - danke Herr Prichard

The combination of hard copy and audio copy brings the magic to White Noise. This book deserves a second read.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Love this story!

Such an interesting multi-genre narrative; filled with observations and facts about people, life, etc. it’s amazing how it very much applies to us still today. Whether it’s how we go about our lives, how we handle disasters, beliefs and/or mundane experiences, it’s accurate.

The only thing I had a problem with, is sometimes it does feel like it leans too much into the white noise theme of itself and can be a bit overwhelming when describing things. Sometimes it felt to be a bit dragged out.

And the performance could’ve been better. It was too robotic for me in some places. I understand this is being told from the point of view of a college professor, but still, I wanted a bit more heart and emotion.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

A wonderful cast of characters to enjoy, and a wonderful group of thoughts about moving on out of this world.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Overly talky

Too much philosophy and too little story. Main character likable, the rest not so much. Some dialogue unnecessarily off-putting with juvenile grossiarties.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Post-Modern Death made Beautiful

Probably one of Delillo's most accessible, looking quite forward to seeing Adam Driver & filmmaker Noah Baumbach make a film out of what appears unfilmable!
The way Delillo gets into how we, as modern Americans, surround ourselves with death both inside and out, yet keeps me laughing, just proves how brilliant a post-modern prose writer he is!
Narrator does a good job of letting the writing speak for itself, though characters occasionally sound similar. Still, A+ job!
Easily one of thr Greatest living authors today and this is a Great Place to start!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good read

astute societal observations made with humor and wit. laugh out loud moments that give rise to real reflection.

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1 person found this helpful