Thomas Pynchon: Crying of Lot 49 (Hardcover, 1999, Tandem Library)
library binding
English language
Published April 19, 1999 by Tandem Library.
The Crying of Lot 49 is a 1966 novella by the American author Thomas Pynchon. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman who begins to embrace a conspiracy theory as she possibly unearths a centuries-old feud between two mail distribution companies. One of these companies, Thurn and Taxis, actually existed, operating from 1806 to 1867, and was the first private firm to distribute postal mail. Like most of Pynchon's writing, The Crying of Lot 49 is often described as postmodernist literature. Time included the novel in its "TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005".
This book is the best introduction to Pynchon because it is so short. If you read and don't love it, do not bother with his longer works. If it leaves you wanting more more more... well, time to crack open Gravity's Rainbow.
I seem to recall enjoying vineland more, but this was still amazing.
