Don Delillo is having a moment right now.

You’ve probably heard of White Noise, the author’s most celebrated contribution to the literary world, the book that will surely be his legacy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the mere mention of White Noise name stiffens your shoulders a bit; lauded for its jazzy prose and cultural significance, the book has become one of the most widely-analyzed texts in college literature courses since its publication in 1985.

More recently, White Noise has experienced a significant resurgence in popularity, trending right below search engine queries like “Rihanna” and “UFO” after its plot somehow manifested itself into reality earlier this month in Ohio - with frightening exactness. This comes mere weeks after Noah Baumbach and Netflix released their adaptation of the novel, which we’re still unsure about. (I don’t seem remember the original mentioning anything about Adam Driver lazy-dancing to LCD Soundsystem?)

Personally, I think that all this buzz around Delillo is a good thing. If everyone read his work, the human race would be a much more socially aware (albeit paranoid) species. The world is ready for legions of athleisure-clad soccer moms to make Underworld the next Eat, Pray, Love, for Huck Finn to be dropped from middle school curriculums nationwide in favor of Mao II.

In wake of this resurgence - and to celebrate the author’s inimitable style - we’ve included a few selections from Delillo’s criminally underrated short story canon below. Most of these are taken from his only official compilation, The Angel Esmeralda.

Astronauts, politics, baseball, infidelity, Gerard Richter; while wide-ranging in subject matter, each story here feels strangely connected, like a system of life-sustaining planets orbiting a black hole, teetering on the edge of darkness. Yet in these worlds, nobody acknowledges this approaching nothingness, no one pauses to look up at the sky; life goes on… —Jackson Todd

Read Pafko at the Wall here.

A retelling of a famous catch by Andy Pafko at a Giants game in early 50’s New York. J Edgar Hoover and Frank Sinatra trade jabs in the audience, but this is merely a red herring; what really matters is that the atomic age is here, and here for good. Technically a novella, Pafko serves as the prologue to Underworld in later editions.

Read Human Moments in World War III here.

Two astronauts floating over Earth get philosophical as a non-nuclear World War III rages below. And then the mystery transmission: Where - or rather when - is it coming from?

Read Midnight in Dostoevsky here.

Despite its name, this story has nothing to do with the famous Russian author, rather two university students squabbling over the identity of a mysterious, omni-present hooded man. Another long short read.