Staff Reviews
We all want to say that we've actually read a Thomas Pynchon book. THE CRYING OF LOT 49 is Pynchon's debut-- a slim, strange story of corporate mysticism and individual perplexity. It's by far Pynchon's most accessible work, and it opens the door to the author's more abstract stories. You'll read it in a weekend and think about it for months.
— From THE CRYING OF LOT 49 (Thomas Pynchon)Description
“A puzzle, an intrigue, a literary and historical tour de force.” — San Francisco Examiner
The Crying of Lot 49 is Thomas Pynchon's highly original classic satire of modern America, about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in what would appear to be an international conspiracy.
When her ex-lover, wealthy real-estate tycoon Pierce Inverarity, dies and designates her the coexecutor of his estate, California housewife Oedipa Maas is thrust into a paranoid mystery of metaphors, symbols, and the United States Postal Service. Traveling across Southern California, she meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge.
About the Author
Thomas Pynchon was born in 1937. His books include V, Gravity's Rainbow, Vineland, Mason & Dixon, Against the Day, Inherent Vice, and Bleeding Edge.
Praise For…
“A puzzle, an intrigue, a literary and historical tour de force.” — San Francisco Examiner
“The comedy crackles, the puns pop, the satire explodes.” — New York Times
"Mr. Pynchon's satirical eye doesn't miss a thing, including rock n' roll singers right wing extremists, and the general subculture of Southern California." — Library Journal
“[A] spectacular tale. . . . The work of a virtuoso with prose. . . . His intricate symbolic order is akin to that of Joyce's Ulysses." — Chicago Tribune
“Pynchon is again whispering something in our ear about the meaning of coincidence, the possibility of recurrence in history, and the circularity of time. . . . . The Crying of Lot 49 is one of those mystery novels that can’t be solved.” — New York Review of Books
“Remarkable. . . . The Crying of Lot 49 resembles metaphysical poetry in the range of its allusions and the curiosity of its creator. Consequently, the book is always surprising.” — Washington Post