In my opinion one of the best postmodern novels ever written (of course, I can’t claim to have read many of those that exist), Don Delillo’s White Noise is the absurdist and satirical story of a ‘Hitler Studies’ professor who contracts cancer in an ‘airborne toxic event.’ This leads him to become obsessed, fascinated and profoundly terrified of, the prospect of his own death. The novel was published in 1985, but I read it two years ago, on the recommendation of my father.

White Noise is a singularly amusing novel, with classic absurdist characters rendered in flawless satirical hilarity. Delillo’s characters are both ridiculous and utterly believable, and so really, really funny, even if you don’t necessarily realize how hysterical the book is until after you finish reading it. To give you a taste: Two of my favorite characters are an absent-minded neuroscientist who seems to know everything about the narrator without asking and who goes out of her way to be un-findable, and an atheist German nun who tells our hero that the church has largely forsaken the idea of God but keeps up pretenses for the sake of the rest of the world.

What makes Delillo’s novel so powerful is the simultaneous tragedy, jocularity and profundity of his characters. The book is quite enjoyable to read, but also, with so much going on at once really enjoyable to ponder for, case in point, two years after and counting.