num_pages: 192
description: 'A novel that is both slight and profound, a distilled meditation on perception and loss, and a poised, individual ghost story for the twenty-first century' Observer The Body Artist begins with breakfast between a married couple, Lauren and Rey, in their ramshackle rented house on the New England coast. Recording their delicate, intimate, half-complete thoughts and words, DeLillo proves himself a stunningly unsentimental observer of our idiosyncratic relationships. But after breakfast, Rey makes a decision that leaves Lauren utterly alone, or seems to. As Lauren, the body artist of the title, becomes strangely detached from herself and the temporal world, the novel becomes an exploration of a highly abnormal grieving process; a fascinating expose of 'who we are when we are not rehearsing who we are'; and a rarefied study of trauma and creativity, absence and presence, isolation and communion. 'A masterly portrait of the impact of death on those who live' Evening Standard
language: English
title: The Body Artist
titlecomplete: The Body Artist
genres: Contemporary, 21st Century, American, Literary Fiction, The United States Of America, Novels, Fiction, Literature, Art, Novella
ratings_count: 10939
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
category: Fiction
publisher: Picador (London)