As nearly every reviewer of Point Omega noted, it is hard for an author of as many great books as Don DeLillo to write anything that will not be assessed in the shadow of his earlier work. They then proceeded to do so. Some critics, noting that this novella is not nearly as enmeshed with American life as the author's longer works, defended DeLillo's right to do something different. Others saw continuities with recent titles, claiming that in Omega Point, DeLillo finally achieves the mystical minimalism he sought in books like Falling Man. But many critics saw Omega Point as an attenuated version of the author's best work or, at worst, a kind of self-parody. But all seemed so fascinated by DeLillo that even if Omega Point is just a shadow of his best-known works, they were willing to stand in it for a little while.
