"Pafko at the Wall", subtitled "

The Shot Heard Round the World "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. It was an ...

", is a text by

Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...

that was originally published as a folio in the October 1992 issue of '' Harper's Magazine''. It was later incorporated as the prologue in DeLillo's acclaimed novel ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

'' (1997), with minor changes from the original version, such as a new opening line. In 2001, "Pafko" was re-released as a novella, by Scribner. This is the same version as printed in ''Underworld'', where the section is titled "

The Triumph of Death ''The Triumph of Death'' is an oil panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted c. 1562. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1827. Description The painting shows a panorama of an army of skeletons wreaking havoc across a bl ...

", in reference to the painting by

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called gen ...

. The title character is

Andy Pafko Andrew Pafko (February 25, 1921 – October 8, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59). He bat ...

, who, as the Dodgers' left fielder, saw

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), M ...

's famous shot go over his head.

External links

''Pafko at the Wall''
at the Harper's Magazine
''Pafko at the Wall''
(Scribner edition) at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

2001 American novels Novels by Don DeLillo Postmodern novels American novellas Works originally published in Harper's Magazine Baseball novels Fiction set in 1951 Novels set in New York City Upper Manhattan {{postmodern-novel-stub