Zero K is a 2016 novel by American author Don DeLillo.
![]() Cover of first edition | |
Author | Don DeLillo |
---|---|
Audio read by | Thomas Sadoski |
Cover artist | Jasper James (photo)[1] Jaya Miceli (design)[1] |
Language | English |
Publisher | Scribner |
Publication date | May 3, 2016 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 288 |
ISBN | 978-1-5011-3539-2 |
OCLC | 1090921903 |
813/.54 | |
LC Class | PS3554.E4425 Z35 2016 |
Plot summary
editThe novel concerns a billionaire, Ross Lockhart, who is inspired by the terminal illness of his wife Artis to seek immortality for both of them through cryopreservation. The novel is narrated by Ross' son, Jeffrey. DeLillo has described Zero K as 'a leap out of the bare-skinned narratives of Point Omega and The Body Artist.'[2]
Reception
editZero K received positive reviews from critics.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
The Guardian wrote, "This being DeLillo, it goes without saying that there’s a much higher quotient of beautiful sentences and arresting observations than you'd find in most other living writers", and drew particular focus to a taxi ride in New York City, "a virtuoso passage that effortlessly braids observations on money, global politics, traffic patterns, family relations, airport security rituals and the unstoppable torrent of information...in its flow, is as good as any of the great Arthur Avenue passages in Underworld.[12]
The Observer went further, calling the book "beautiful and profound, certainly DeLillo's best since Underworld.[13]
The New York Times was effusive in its praise, declaring "sentence by sentence, DeLillo magically slips the knot of criticism and gives his readers what Nabokov maintained was all that mattered in life and art: individual genius. Sentence by sentence, DeLillo seduces." It continued: "as in the best of DeLillo's previous novels, down to the pleasures of the final page. The scene takes place in New York, with Jeff on a crosstown bus. It ends the book powerfully. I finished it stunned and grateful. DeLillo has written a handful of the past half-century's finest novels. Now, as he approaches 80, he gives us one more, written distinctly for the 21st."[14]
Audiobook
editThe audiobook is read by Thomas Sadoski.[15]
Television adaptation
editIn March 2017, filmmaker Charlie McDowell announced he was adapting Zero K as a limited series for FX with Noah Hawley and Scott Rudin producing.[16]
References
edit- ^ a b Don DeLillo (May 3, 2016). Zero K: A Novel. Scribner. ISBN 978-1-5011-3539-2.
- ^ Lewin, Katherine Da Cunha; Ward, Kiron, eds. (4 October 2018). Don DeLillo. Contemporary Critical Perspectives. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 160. ISBN 9781350040878. OCLC 1029771002.
- ^ "Bookmarks reviews of Zero K by Don DeLillo". LitHub. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
- ^ Sacks, Sam (29 April 2016). "Fiction Chronicle: A Novelist Comes of Age". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ Ferris, Joshua (2 May 2016). "Joshua Ferris Reviews Don DeLillo's 'Zero K'". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (29 April 2016). "Don DeLillo's deep freeze: 'Zero K' takes on death, futurists and cryonics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ Lasdun, James (11 May 2016). "Zero K by Don DeLillo review – the problem of mortality". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko (25 April 2016). "Review: In Don DeLillo's 'Zero K,' Daring to Outwit Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Daum, Meghan (1 May 2016). "Death and Don DeLillo". The Atlantic. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Rich, Nathaniel (9 June 2016). "When High Technology Meets Immortality". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Keeble, Arin (10 May 2016). "Don DeLillo new book 'Zero K' review: Cryogenics, immortality and the fragility of life". Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Lasdun, James (11 May 2016). "Zero K by Don DeLillo review – the problem of mortality". The Guardian.
- ^ Preston, Alex (15 May 2016). "Zero K by Don DeLillo – profound and beautiful". The Observer.
- ^ Ferris, Joshua (2 May 2016). "Joshua Ferris Reviews Don DeLillo's 'Zero K'". The New York Times.
- ^ Delillo, Don (3 May 2016). Zero K Audiobook on CD by Don DeLillo, Thomas Sadoski. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501135392. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
- ^ Swinson, Brock (30 March 2017). "The Discovery: A Big Premise Character Piece". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved 30 March 2017.