Search the Fresh Air Archive

Close Search

"Seven Seconds that Broke the Back of the Century."

Novelist Don DeLillo. His most recent novel, Libra, is based on the assassination of President Kennedy and the various conspiracy theories that continue to swirl around the tragedy. It became an immediate bestseller when it was published last year, and is now at the top of the paperback best seller lists. DeLillo's eight previous novels, starting with Americana and the bestseller and American Book Award winner White Noise, all revolve around conspiracy theories and the public's conviction that public events are never what they seem. (Rebroadcast. Originally broadcast on Tuesday, August 9, 1988.) (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

10:59
Queue

Guest

Host

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on August 15, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 15, 1989: Interview with Allan Burns; Commentary on the Woodstock Festival; Interview with Don DeLillo; Review of Peter Handke's novel "The Afternoon of the Writer."
Queue
22:19

Allan Burns' New Program About A Public Radio Station.

Television producer and screenwriter Allan Burns. He co-created "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Rhoda," "He and She," "Lou Grant" and "The Munsters," a body of work that has earned him 8 Emmys. Burns has a new series this fall on NBC titled "FM." It's about the on-the-job and at home travails of a public radio program director. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)

Interview

Transcript

Transcript currently not available.

Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

You May Also like

Queue
03:23

The Difficulty of Dialogue

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg wonders why it's so hard for writers to craft realistic, natural-sounding dialogue when we are surrounded by speech in our daily lives. He says it may take a special kind of attentiveness to hear -- and remember -- how people really talk.

Commentary
Queue
03:47

"Libra" is a "Cold, Brilliant Moon of a Book"

Book critic John Leonard says that Don DeLillo's new novel is the culmination of the author's career writing great books. The heavily-researched, well-orchestrated story posits that the JFK assassination was an elaborate plot to regain Cuba, and was intended to have been near miss rather than a successful murder.

Review
Queue
09:53

"Seven Seconds that Broke the Back of the Century"

Novellist Don DeLillo doesn't like talking about his novels; but he says there's much to discuss about his newest book Libra, based on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. DeLillo sought to fill in the gaps of that story, including what motivated gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Learn How
Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

52:30

Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

43:04

This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

See All Recent Segments

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue