Reading Order
Falling Man Reading Order
Falling Man (2007) by Don DeLillo is his novel of September 11 — a narrowly focused account of Keith Neudecker, a survivor of the World Trade Center attacks, his wife Lianne, and the months after the attacks as the characters struggle to reabsorb themselves into ordinary life. DeLillo interweaves three timelines: Keith's slow return to his family, Lianne's work with an Alzheimer's group, and, in the novel's three short interstitial chapters, the interior of one of the hijackers. Falling Man is DeLillo at his most restrained and elegiac — a quieter novel than his earlier work, concerned with the private aftermath of historical catastrophe rather than with the catastrophe itself.
Where to start
Falling Man (2007)
Complete Falling Man Book List
- 1Buy
Falling Man
Don DeLillo·2007 - 2Buy
White Noise
Don DeLillo·1985·DeLillo's breakthrough novel — if Falling Man is your first DeLillo, White Noise is the natural companion: funnier, more satirical, but exploring the same terrain of American anxiety and media-saturated death. - 3Buy
Underworld
Don DeLillo·1997·DeLillo's most ambitious novel — 827 pages from the 1951 Shot Heard Round the World to the 1990s; a panoramic account of postwar American consciousness.
Falling Man — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Falling Man DeLillo's best 9/11 novel?
DeLillo had already written presciently about mass death and terrorism in Mao II (1991) and about the September 11 attacks in an essay in Harper's Magazine shortly after they happened. Falling Man is his only full novel directly about 9/11. It received respectful reviews but is generally considered a minor work compared to White Noise and Underworld.
Who is the Falling Man in the novel?
The Falling Man is a performance artist named David Janiak who recreates the iconic photograph of a man falling from the World Trade Center by suspending himself from buildings and bridges in a business suit. He appears at several points in Lianne's narrative, disturbing pedestrians and prompting reflection on how public performance processes private grief.
Should I read White Noise or Underworld before Falling Man?
Falling Man is a standalone novel and requires no prior DeLillo. Most DeLillo readers recommend starting with White Noise (1985) — it is his most accessible novel and the one that established his major themes. Falling Man makes more sense in the context of DeLillo's broader project if you have read White Noise first.
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