Mao II is a short novel revolving around four main characters: a famous recluse writer, Bill Gray, who's biggest fear is publishing a new book that does not live up to his fan's expectations, his obsessive compulsive assistant, a stray teenager who got brainwashed by the Reverend Moon of the Unification Church, and a professional photographer, Brita Nilsson.

DeLillo emphatically states "the future belongs to crowds" but I'd say he missed his mark. He should have said, "the future belongs to the media". The overall theme appears to be that the media plays a tremendous role in validating who we are and the importance of our lives. The opening scene is a mass marriage of 6500 couples performed by Reverend Moon at the Yankee Stadium. Massive media coverage! Then the story jumps ahead (5 to 7 years) to the story of Bill Gray, who is obsessed with his public image and the media. And of course, the professional photographer, Brita Nilsson "is" the media.

Although the book held my interest, there are several things I didn't like about it. First, DeLillo doesn't concern himself too much with form. There are run-on sentences that sometimes last a half of a page. This writing style worked for some classic writer's (like Proust) who were not in any hurry for the plot to go anywhere, but seems unsuited for Mao II. And all characters, (including the 3rd person telling the story) and a homeless fourteen year old boy, speak in the same abrupt, sporadic, dialect that is both eloquent and intellectually philosophical. Even the small talk is filled with unnatural, excessive, sparring witticism. This makes it hard to connect with any of the characters. There is no individuality.

Second, the different segments, Moonies/terrorists/recluse writier, seem awkwardly forced to fit together. And even though the story takes place between 1982 and 1989 it is told as though it were happening in some futuristic era where some inferred danger lurks, that is never really explained. As a result, I was perplexed by the fearful, wary, climate prevading the book. It just didn't seem real. Ironically, the book was awarded the Pen/Faulkner Award, so the media (even in real life) tries to dictate what (and who) is important. ( )

"The future belongs to crowds". This line first surfaced in Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities. ( )

This book made me no longer want to just read. It made me want to be a writer. Although not his absolute best fiction, it does belong in the top tier of Delillo's work. ( )

This is the first novel I've read by Don DeLillo. I thought the characters and plot was good, but the dialogue was unbelievable. Every character, whether it was the reclusive writher, the Moonie girl, the cosmopolitan photographer and even the terrorist at the end, had the same way of speaking. Since it is not like any sort of real life dialogue I think it was even more obvious. Here's an example from the beginning:

"Whire I live, okay, there's a rooftop chaos, a jumble, four, five, six, seven storeys, and it's water tanks, laundry lines, antennas, belfries, pigeon lofts, chimney pots, everyting human about the lower island--little crouched gardens, statuary, painted signs. And I wake up to this and love it and depend on it. But it's all being flattened and hauled away so they can build their towers"

On a side note I found it eerie that a book written in 1991 that does have a sub plot regarding terrorism also mentions the Twin Towers multiple times. One of the characters hates them and it comes up throughout the book. ( )

Amazing detail to characters is to me DeLillo's gift, and plot is unnecessary as the reader is merely following these people around. ( )