Rating: 
Summary: Phony. Pretentious. Inane. Blase. Uninspired.
Review: Delillo seems to think his "observations" are novel and deep. In truth, Delillo's "observations" in this little novella are phony, pretentious, inane, immature, misguided, blase, uninspired, and downright imbecilic at times.
I'd offer some quotations to back this up but this book already found it's rightful place (before it could be finished): the trash can of a train station.
Rating: 
Summary: Curiously flat
Review: I really should like this book. Kind of a contemporary Oddysey thing, with pre-9-11 NYC as its setting and the overall collapse of the 90s as the general theme. Interesting ideas there, and in the hands of DeLillo, it should've ben an interesting novel.
Sadly, this was not the case. And I can't put my finger on why. Or, I can, but the flaws I see here are, to my mind, things that are in other DeLillo works, strengths. Prime amongst these is the flat, uncompelling characters. Halfway through the book I realized that I simply did not care what happened to anyone. The characters are empty, barely differentiated, incredibly uncompelling. Which shouldn't be that much of a surprise - I've always found DeLillo's characterization to be a bit lacking. But usually, flat empty characters seem perfect for the text he's spinning (White Noise being merely the most obvious example of this). Here, however, they left me cold and uncaring.
And the overall theme, the end of the dotcom era, collapse of the 90s, etc., etc., etc. - yes it's an interesting theme. But, by this point, it's been done to death and DeLillo doesn't really add anything new. There are a couple of throwaway notions (Eric's belief that certain words and concepts are outmoded for one) that were compelling, but nothing's ever done with them.
What's good here? The dialogue for one. While it's basically DeLillo talking to himself, it is spritely and possessed of a lively rhythm (though I can't say the same for DeLillo's unfortunate attempts at approximating the rhymes of a Sufi MC). No one out there has quite DeLillo's touch with dialogue, and it's a pleasure to read.
And there are some isolated scenes that are quite good - the ending (though it's given away in the first 50 pages) for one; the barbershop scene for another.
All in all, this is something of a let down. DeLillo's capable of more and, with any luck, his next work will prove to be something a bit better than this.
Rating: 
Summary: A worthwhile read
Review: Cosmopolis is the 13th novel by Don DeLillo. It tells the story of a day in the life of a billionaire asset manager - a day spent mostly in his white stretch limousine, and a day when the currency market crashes (due mostly to his interference) and bankrupts him.
It's also a day anarchists take over Times Square, a day he makes love to his wife for the first time, and the day he sees what he believes is his own demise in his pocket watch.
Were Cosmopolis any longer, I think it would be a failure as a novel. As it is, the unevenness become unbearable toward the last 10 pages or so.
Aside from that, this is a provocative novel with a great array of images, ideas, and characters. Clocking in at 208 pages, it's a perfect length for its subject matter. I loved the passages with his Chief of Theory - she was certainly the most interestingly drawn character.
Rating:
Summary: The best book about a limo ride across town ever written.
Review:
But really, not a good book. I am a DeLillo fan. I thought Libra was excellent, and I thought Underworld was also incredible. Taut phrasing, good thrust of narrative, intelligent things to say through the story, especially with the former. I was looking forward to this book as an insight to my home, New York, as much as the previous two were insightful about American experience.
Instead, I received one of the more self-indulgent short books I've ever read. A wealthy "master-of-the-universe" type rides across town, has sex with 3 women whom he could care less about, questions himself, looks down on everyone he talks to, and makes worldly observations that he seems to find important yet are as overly dramatic and weighty as a college freshman's first lit paper.
One of the main problems, in my opinion, is that the book actually seems dated. Very 80's in it's view of powerful young men who seem convinced they know everything as representative of something important or trend in our society. Didn't we go through this already 15 years ago? Granted, the 90's had the dot-coms, but this guy seems to be a particularly irritating rehash of both decades.
Lastly, DeLillo's foray into rap lyrics makes me want to throw up.
BUT, all that being said, DeLillo STILL manages to write sentences and even entire pages that hold together in a way that other writers can only dream about. Insightful and important. But it so infrequent here and so overpowered by phrases such as "His prostate was asymmetrical" that the good is just obliterated by pretension.
Thankfully, it was short. It might be worth reading just for that reason.
Timothy J. Beck
Rating:
Summary: Cosmopolis: A Novel
Review: This is absolutly, by far, the worst book I have ever read. I purchased it in Germany at a train station where they did not have many english books to choose from. I should have just stared out the window during the long train ride! It was awful, depressing and just plain odd. The protagonist, Eric Packer is not the least bit interesting. He spends the day driving across Manhatten trying to get his hair cut, he meets various people along the way and has sex with many of them. He is married, but somehow he does not really know he is married. The odd thing is that he keeps running in to his wife when he decides to get out of his limo to get something to eat. How can she get across town when he can't? None of it makes any sense. Don't bother!
Rating:
Summary: A bad DeLillo is still better than a good Anybody
Review: I guess I was lucky in that I began with Mao II and White Noise and went from there. So I know what DeLillo is capable of. I was giddy to read this new one. But, like other reviewers, I was reminded of Brett Easton Ellis, even from the title (which reminded me of "Glamorama"). And that made me nervous right away. The worst part about this novel is that it's completely contrived. We never get the feeling these characters are truly alive, only that DeLillo is trying to tell us something via their interaction. The coincidental meetings with the wife (you'll see) are a perfect example. But there are others. If we're just going to ride around in a limo, slowly, without any solid plot to hang our hat on, then anyone who happens to stop in for a chat will appear to have been shoved into that limo by the author. But for the good news: it's DeLillo. A fix for the addict. His dialogue is sharp, funny and truncated, as always. Some of the passages are pure poetry (the section about the kids dancing at a rave in a burnt-out building is sublime). We know about DeLillo's apocalyptic obsessions, which were firmly in place long before 9/11, and this is more of the same. Or is it? He never mentions terrorism, but he's got a two-bit gang of thugs flinging rats around the city in demonstrations against capitalism. And there are threats on the protagonist's life. And it takes place in New York City. NYC is the cosmopolis of the title, the "city of the world," a stage that shows a microcosm of the terror in store for all mankind. So this is good old prescient DeLillo, warbling, and the sound of it will stand up to anything being written today. Don't get this if you've never read any Don DeLillo--you'll probably be turned off. Mao II and White Noise are both great starting points, but even some of the earlier stuff that DD has since scorned (Americana, End Zone, Great Jones Street) would be a better beginning.
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