delillo's underworld

[ray gonne]

just read delillo's underworld (work at a bookstore--major perk) and
liked it quite a bit. dd is really rolling--i'd say it's as good as
anything he's written, well-sustained, and he avoids the boring,
featureless writing (a la mao II) that sometimes creeps into his work
(imho). i must add though that a big pynchon fan may be distracted by
how much better the p-man can pull off a lot of what delillo takes on.
that said, i'll also mention that i agree with what a friend who also
read the novel mentioned frequently as we talked our way through our
reading: nothing new here, really--not much innovation or risk-taking
(esp compared to a book like m&d); still, a pleasure to read and at
times quite breathtaking.
ray