Edgy, modern, and risqué, Delillo's novel has a unique style. It takes place mainly in the back of a limo making its way through Manhattan roughly during the course of one day. Eric Packer is a billionaire who encounters women that are just as sex-obsessed as he is, and everyone around him finds his charm (and money) irresistible. Except for one mentally-disturbed man who periodically cuts into the narrative with his manic, stream-of-consciousness ramblings and plots to kill Eric Packer. The limo Eric is riding in is super high tech and as they drive through the city they are constantly stalled by traffic jams caused by various unusual occurrences, so Eric jumps out of the limo several times to do whatever he feels like doing at the moment, and keeps running into his beautiful heiress wife. Throughout the course of the day he purposely makes poor investments, throwing more and more money away, which parallels the course of his downfall. Finally, he also purposely loses all his wife's money as well, to ensure his ruin. More strange occurrences and even stranger encounters bring the day-- and the novel-- to a close.
I like the style of this novel, as well as its originality. It was interesting and ingenious, but not extremely exciting.
The film adaptation of this book is in progress right now, so maybe you can wait and just see the movie. It's worth mentioning that Delillo has other novels that were critically acclaimed and very successful, including "White Noise." If his style sounds appealing to you but this book sounds a bit dull, try that novel.
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