| Players (1977) is a short novel by Don Delillo. Delillo takes normal elements of affluent western culture, polarizes them, and offers them to you in perfect relaxed sentences.
The story follows a short period in the lives of two successful new yorkers, Pammy and Lyle. First you are introduced to them, witness the dynamics of their relationship, and then Pammy goes on vacation to Maine with friends. While she is away Lyle gets involved with a terrorist organization that wants to blow up the New York Stock Exchange. The book pops back and forth between Pammy in Maine and Lyle in New York.
Why read it? Don Delillo is a great writer. It's a short, easy book that is full of insights. You get lots of ideas without the heaviness of his later books. You get to read the work of writer before he writes his more refined fleshed out novels, which is always fun. The characters are good. It's full of themes. The way Delillo focuses on the minds of the characters more then the plot line is interesting.
Why pass on it? You don't have a copy. The dry uncaring vibe he creates gets slow. You're sick and tired of high brow sardonic post-modern humor.
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