What Don DeLillo’s Books Tell Him [Wall Street Journal]
The Wall Street Journal recently published a fascinating (and rare) interview with author Don DeLillo. The short article is definitely worth a read. DeLillo “talks about his Catholic roots and the inspiration for his new book.”
His new book sounds fittingly, um, psycho.
Some excerpts from the WSJ story:
His new book, he says, was inspired by a film he saw at the Museum of Modern Art.
“Point Omega” opens with a long, disorienting scene in a dark gallery, where a man watches “Psycho” in slow motion. The narrative jumps abruptly to the California desert, and centers on a filmmaker, Jim Finley, who pitches a documentary film project to Richard Elster, a 73-year-old scholar who served as an adviser to strategists planning the Iraq war. Finley wants to shoot a single-take interview in which Elster reveals his role in the conflict. Their intellectual tug-of-war takes an abrupt turn with the arrival and mysterious disappearance of Elster’s daughter.
Mr. DeLillo says the idea for “Point Omega” struck him in 2006, when he wandered into a MoMA gallery and saw “24 Hour Psycho,” an experimental work by the Scottish video artist Douglas Gordon, who slowed down Alfred Hitchcock’s film to last 24 hours. Mr. DeLillo says he returned to the exhibit three times.
[Get a taste of “24 Hour Psycho” with a clip at Biblioklept]
