Don DeLillo, the genius behind the 1997 post-modern novel "Underworld," is set to receive an honorary lifetime achievement award in the forthcoming 66th annual National Book Award ceremony, LA Times reports. The presenting group, National Book Foundation has chosen the 78-year-old writer as the recipient of the 2015 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
"Don DeLillo is unquestionably one of the greatest novelists of his generation," National Book Foundation executive director Harold Augenbraum said in a statement picked up by LA Times. "He has had an enormous influence on the two generations of writers that followed, and his work will continue to resonate for generations to come," he went on to say.
So far in his colorful literary career, DeLillo has published 15 novels and a novella. "White Noise," one of his better-known titles (it was his eighth) earned him the National Book Award for Fiction in 1998. His books "Libra" and "Underworld" were National Book Award finalists while "Mao II" won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1992 and it almost earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction too.
The Guardian quotes the author from New York as saying he is "a little intimidated" by the medal, which will be presented by Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan. The publication also picked up his statement in Associated Press sent through fax and there he admitted that "The kid from the Bronx is still crouching in a corner of my mind."
The aforementioned publication says that DeLillo is known for his "uncanny" acumens on subjects as diverse as technology, hostility and terrorism. He site cites his grief-invoking title, "Players," which chronicles the destruction of the World Trade Center. The book was released two decades prior to the 9/11 attacks.
According to USA Today, DeLillo, who also penned "Point Omega," "Falling Man" and "Running Dog," will be the 28th recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was already being awarded in the event all the way back to 1988. Over the years, National Book Foundation conferred the accolade to writers such as Judy Blume, Joan Didion, EL Doctorow, Elmore Leonard, Philipp Roth Norman Mailer and Toni Morrison.
As per The Guardian, National Book Award aims to recognize "a diverse body of work that examines the mores of contemporary modern American culture and brilliantly embeds the rhythms of everyday speech within a beautifully composed, contoured narrative." This year's National Book awards ceremony is scheduled on Nov 18 in Manhattan.