num_pages: 448
description: "A whimsical, surrealistic excursion into the modern scientific mind." -- The New YorkerOne of DeLillo's first novels, Ratner's Star  follows Billy, the genius adolescent, who is recruited to live in obscurity, underground, as he tries to help a panel of estranged, demented, and yet lovable scientists communicate with beings from outer space. It is a mix of quirky humor, science, mathematical theories, as well as the complex emotional distance and sadness people feel. Ratner's Star demonstrates both the thematic and prosaic muscularity that typifies DeLillo's later and more recent works, like The Names (which is also available in Vintage Contemporaries).  "His most spectacularly inventive novel." -- The New York Times 
language: English
title: Ratner's Star
titlecomplete: Ratner's Star
characters: Billy Twillig
genres: 20th Century, American, Literary Fiction, Novels, Science Fiction, Literature, Collections, The United States Of America, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 2185
publisher: Vintage