i found it interesting that Cosmopolis felt like an essay while this essay felt more like a story. there is obviously a lot more emotion in this "essay," especially in the Karen+Marc narrative that is stuck right in the middle. in fact this whole piece seems dominated by emotion and devoid of the more analytical style that we have seen in Underworld and Cosmopolis. i really liked the idea of America representing the future and the terrorists trying to bring back the past, but this idea gets lost in a barrage of other images. i am focusing mainly on style because it is hard for me to comment on the content of this essay, having read so many "9/11 reaction" pieces in the past few years.

The Washington Post Magazine had a really great article this Sunday that entertains many of the themes in Delillo's essay as well as some of the themes in the Postmodern book, including an interview with Fukuyama. I found it to be a pretty good and solid piece, presenting a lot of dense ideas coherently in an article's worth of space.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54962-2004Nov16.html

I'd like to recommend a dvd which has come out titled "September 11." The subhead is

"11 directors
11 stories
1 film"

You might be like, "911 reactions? I've seen them all." but I saw it in another class and thought it was pretty cool.

Some of the films on the dvd have an element of romance, comedy while others are more political. It depicts a variety of responses to this tragedy and is set in the U.S. and in different countries as well. Its artfully done and is "postmodern" in its approach.

The directors include Amos Gitai, Mira Nair, and Ken Loach. I bought it through amazon.com but it might also be avail through video stores if you want to check it out.