The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of one of the most iconic novels of our time-now in a dazzling graphic package Winner of the National Book Award, "White Noise" tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra?modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys-radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings-pulsing with life, yet suggesting something ominous.