Underworld

Underworld is a novel by American author Don DeLillo, published in 1997. The sprawling novel portrays the alienation of American society in the late 20th century. Since publication, the novel has won numerous awards and been praised as one of the preeminent works of contemporary American fiction. Other works by this author include Zero K, Falling Man, and Point Omega.

This guide is written using the 2022 Picador edition.

Content Warning: The source material includes references to sexual abuse, rape, racism, bigoted violence and language, and drug abuse.

Plot Summary

Underworld is told in a nonlinear structure. In the Prologue, a young Black boy named Cotter Martin attends the National League baseball game between the New York Giants and their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the audience, the celebrities watch the game. J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, is told about the Soviet Union detonating a nuclear bomb. Cotter befriends a white man and witnesses the famous Shot Heard ’Round the World, a home run by Bobby Thomson. The ball falls into Cotter’s part of the stands, and, after a brief struggle, he emerges with the ball.