This may be a slim volume but it is a big book. Delillo often takes on big issues, and here he takes on the very biggest. What does it mean to be alive. This is no woowoo "what is the meaning of life" navel gaze. The question here is a literal one; "What defines being alive?" I think therefore I am? I speak therefore I am? I have no pulse and am cryogenically preserved so I have the possibility of a future therefore I am? Are we alive just because we eat dinner and take cabs? Are we defined by our relationships? I imagine these questions are very present for many octogenarians, but no one expresses them like DeLillo.

Delillo says things in ways that no one has ever said them. Yet, when you read his words, they are so perfect you can't imagine why everyone in history has not used those words. Precisely those words. The only other living person I ever say that about is Leonard Cohen. I love words, and so there is no way I could not love these perfect words. I listened to this on audio, and it was actually quite good, but I wanted to think more about the words so after I finished the audio I went out and got the print version and started over from the beginning. The words are that good. The humor and the well drawn story arc are a bonus.