cover image Americana

Americana

Don DeLillo. Penguin Books, $15 (377pp) ISBN 978-0-14-011948-0

In search of his roots, a successful but unhappy TV executive takes off for the heartland of America. ``This first novel is peopled with characters alienated not only from one another, but from themselves. It has the smell of staleness and despair. It is also, with its deadly accurate observations, its veracious dialogue, and its consistency of view, brilliantly written,'' maintained PW. (July)