The Continuous Loop

Critical Essay Response and Summary

For my Blog Post this week I decided to summarize the article “Closing the Loop: White Noise” by Tom LeClair. The reason why is because Tom LeClair helped me understand more about the book and made sense about certain things that were happening with the “White Noise” that I did not fully understand. Tom LeClair was a professor at the University of Cincinnati and he wrote his article in 1986. During the beginning of LeClair’s article he is comparing the White Noise to other books that were out at the current time. “Although generically and rhetorically doubled, White Noise, when compared with The Names or even with Americana, is structurally and stylistically simple,” (390).  LeClair believed that the only reason why the White Noise was so popular was because how the plot was written within the story and how it appealed to readers of different kinds. During LeClair’s article he talks about the three different parts that are within the “White Noise”, he goes into detail about these events and how they are themes in the story. 

I really enjoyed this article and it helped me understand more about the White Noise. The only problem that I had with it was at the beginning of the article were LeClair seemed to be jumping around from topic to topic. I agree with LeClair that DeLillo does take universal fear and exaggerates them to a point where they are filled with foolishness just for an ironic effect. “DeLillo’s is the noise of disaster and the noise of mystery,” (411). 

LeClair, Tom. Closing the loop:White Noise. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1986. 387-411. Print.