Paul: I think the very essence of Delillo which makes him "great" to a whole lot of people is something which makes him decidedly not for a whole lot of others,
like us misguided, left out of the party, Canadians.OK, here's a venture at counterargument, even though we are dealing with the issue of personal taste here. (And Canadians aren't left out of the party, by the way; that was just a joke to jab back at your jab.)
You said you didn't "get" _White Noise_. I assume you have the book somewhere. Re-read the small chapter about "the world's most photographed barn" and the character's conclusion that people are "taking pictures of taking pictures." In my opinion, this chapter, and the argument presented there, serves as a key to unlock the whole book. The argument and its exposition are universal, not particularly American, but postmodern.
Further, DeLillo, since _The Names_ (set in Greece by the way) has been preoccupied with the notion of terrorism. His novels of the 1990s all include the World Trade Center in some way, and relate those structures to terrorism. It's almost as though he saw 9/11 coming. Yet his main points about terrorism are not particularly "American." Rather, he makes many points about terrorism as the usurper of art, and what that means in a global culture that is increasingly losing the value of personal identity.
Still ... de gustibus. Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
