Rating: 
Summary: DeLillo's best, and my favorite
Review: DeLillo's Underworld is simply the best book I have ever read. His sweep of post-WWII American culture is all encompassing and unparalleled in American literature. This book, like DeLillo's other works, is an oddity in that it is both an extremely engaging, page-turning read and a genuine work of literary art. The beginning section, The Triumph of Death, is stunning. The image of J. Edgar Hoover shocked at the magazine page that flew into his hands tells volumes. The rest of the book, with sections on Lenny Bruce and J. Edgar Hoover among others, not to mention the protagonists Klara Sax and Nick Shay, are masterful. These mere adjectives that I use to describe this book do not do it justice! If you're a fan of Pynchon, other DeLillo works, Haruki Murakami, or just fantastic writing, you must read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: who are you people?
Review: I bought this book because I had read White Noise and found it moderately enjoyable. As I am always looking to expand my literary horizons I thought I'd try the Delillo book that everyone seemed to consider his best. Frankly, it was one of the worst books I've ever read. I don't know how anyone can call this the book of the year, never mind book of the century. It was tedious, he had zero insight to share, and the characters were completely uninteresting. The first chapter at the Polo Grounds was the best part of the book. The rest was forgettable. So those of you reading this know that I'm not a guy who is trashing the book because I spend most of my time reading grocery store checkout stand material, I'm a big fan of Gaddis, Oe, Beckett, Kafka, Kawabata, Steinbeck, Cendrars, Carpentier, Gide, Nabokov, Celine, Tanizaki, Singer, etc etc. If Underworld was only 200 pages, it would still not be worth the time. Try Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace for a good pomo read. At the least, it won't bore you.
Rating:
Summary: The Complete American Novel
Review: Underworld is the most important novel written in the English language since Ulysses. DeLillo's opus is a must read for any serious student of language and literature. The classic of our generation!
Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: This is my third DeLillo novel (White Noise and Mao II were the first two), and it's easily the most ambitious, overwhelmingly beautiful and true of the three novels.You don't simply read Underworld, you invest time in it. Through it's poignant subplots, this book pays dividends with a view of a broad slice of American life that is tied together with common themes: garbage, nuclear bombs, baseball
Rating:
Summary: A masterful, sweeping panorama of postwar American life
Review: DeLillo's work is one of immense size and scope, and he does not disappoint. From broad panoramas and massed scenes (sporting crowds or countless B52's lined up in the desert) to passages of exquisite detail, focus and intimacy, Underworld does not allow detail to get lost in the broader canvas, nor is the wider picture lost in trivial detail. It is fitting that DeLillo confronts our consumer age with a book about waste: garbage, nuclear destruction, depravity. And yet, for so potentially bleak a subject matter, Underworld is intensely funny: humour, irony and satire all have their place in DeLillo's epic journey through postwar America. People seeking a nice, conventional linear narrative, or a single authorial voice will not find it here: DeLillo's underworld is a challenging book for those who want to be challenged: read it, and you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Provacative stream of consciousness, but difficult to follow
Review: As a first-time reader of DeLillo, I was seduced by the wondrous first chapter in Underworld. All of the praise for this book you will come across is well deserved when directed at this sweeping prologue. From this pinnacle, the book quickly turns downward. Or rather outward - in a smattering of images and moods. These broad-stroked moments are alluring to the reader, and in some cases are enough to sustain one through many difficult passages. But the more I read, the more I was hoping for some piece of the story I could hang onto a little more tightly. Sneak a quick read of the first chapter, slide the book back onto the shelf, and walk away.
Rating:
Summary: Where was the editor? Same place as the plot?
Review: Although Delillo succeeded in creating a message spanning several decades, he failed to present it in a satisfying medium. With his disjointed tale, Delillo attempts to juxtapose the American experience during the Cold War against itself and from a variety of perspectives, decade by decade. Unfortunately, what would have made his book much more powerful was a coherent plot. I think a well written book with a subtle message and competing undercurrents is fantastic. Underworld was well written at times, and very insightful, but had too little tying the strings together. A strong editor or a few more rewrites would have helped this tome significantly. Delillo could have accomplished a great deal by removing about 200 pages. I am not making an argument about the length of this novel - instead I am arguing against its indiscriminate passages which had little to buttress the main story. Delillo's reluctance to tie this novel together may strike a cord with some readers (he has been referred to as brilliant), but I find it simply lazy. How much more powerful his narrative would have been if he had couched his message about the bomb, baseball, and America in general within a tightly wound, intricate (or, at the very least, compelling) plot. The editors should have done some work to pull this thing together. Finally, I am not a fan of Joyce; now I am not a fan of Delillo. Perhaps you must be a fan of the former to enjoy the latter.
Rating:
Summary: A masterful expression of American Pop-Culture Nostalgia
Review: I cannot recall when I have come across such a jewel as this. WOW. The reader will sit, anxiously willing to traverse the smoke rings of the subconcious, with DeLillo as your guide......and I can think of none better to prod at the inner workings of the human condition
Rating: 
Summary: Intricate, NOT a light quick read
Review: If you like easy to follow Stephen King/Tom Clancy style books, this is not for you. This is a heavy thick read, the book skips between characters, times, and locations, and somehow, you'll see the subtle (and not so subtle) ways that peoples' lives are interconnected. I enjoyed this book, but it takes time to read it, and you'll find yourself flipping back pages to confirm how the characters are connected. Great first chapter.
Rating:
Summary: The king's new clothes
Review: A classic example of the sort of book that 'everyone' raves about because they don't want to appear uncool by not doing so. Ignore all the hype and the mad stampede to heap praise upon this - it is, quite simply, tedious and unreadable. The style is turgid and the prose pretentious. It lacks structure and development, and is populated by characters notable only for their forgettableness. Believe me, you have better things to do with your time than waste it on this. Don't let me detain you any longer - we have better books to read.
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