Origins & Early Life

Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as consumerism, nuclear war, the complexities of language, art, television, the advent of the Digital Age, mathematics, politics, economics, and sports. DeLillo was already a well-regarded cult writer in 1985, when the publication of White Noise brought him widespread recognition and the National Book Award for fiction. He followed this in 1988 with Libra, a novel about the assassination of John F.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Kennedy. DeLillo won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Mao II, about terrorism and the media's scrutiny of writers' private lives, and the William Dean Howells Medal for Underworld, a historical novel that ranges in time from the dawn of the Cold War to the birth of the Internet. He was awarded the 1999 Jerusalem Prize, the 2010 PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, and the 2013 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. DeLillo has described his themes as "living in dangerous times" and "the inner life of the culture". In a 2005 interview, he said that writers "must oppose systems.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

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Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alan Alda — Contemporary (Born in 1936) (1936): Esteemed American actor celebrated for M*A*S*H and decades of versatile performances.
• Albert Finney — Contemporary (Born in 1936) (1936): Esteemed English actor celebrated for his versatile stage and screen performances.
• Andrew Grove — Contemporary (Born in 1936) (1936): Visionary engineer and CEO who drove Intel to global semiconductor dominance.
• Barbara Hendricks — Shared historical date (11-20 · Born) (1948): Acclaimed American lyric soprano known for opera and jazz performances.
• Benedetto Croce — Shared historical date (11-20 · Died) (1952): Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and political liberal.
• Assia Djebar — Historical peer (Born in 1936) (1936): Pioneering Algerian feminist novelist celebrated for chronicling women's experiences.
• Barry Barish — Historical peer (Born in 1936) (1936): Pioneering experimental physicist and Nobel laureate expert on gravitational waves.
• Billy Magnussen — Historical peer (Born in 1985) (1985): American actor known for film roles in 'Aladdin' and 'Bridge of Spies'
• Bruno Mars — Historical peer (Born in 1985) (1985): Pop icon known for retro showmanship and versatile songwriting.
• Adele — Historical peer (Born in 1988) (1988): Iconic English singer-songwriter celebrated for powerful mezzo-soprano vocals.
• 1936 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1936
• November 20 (11-20) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on November 20