Don DeLillo writes novels that are loose-knit fabrications of the tensions, preoccupations, and manias of modern America. His books are usually shaped around a central character whose behavior is a means of defending against the stresses in his life. Only in his sixth novel, Running Dog, is much attention paid to plot; thin plot lines serve mostly as excuses for stringing together series of episodes. DeLillo's grasp of the contemporary myth-making process is strong, for he fastens onto his materials-- football, mathematical logic, rock music, scenarios for nuclear devastation--and works them over firmly, imparting to them a satisfying glaze of bright language. His characters owe something to comic books, and his narratives cut swiftly from scene to scene, a technique perhaps picked up from films. The bizarre and extraordinarily witty dialogue of his characters often casts a surreal haze over their presence, producing much of DeLillo's unique effect...