The Cambridge Companion To Thomas Pynchon

The Cambridge Compa nion to Thomas Pynchon The most celebrated American novelist of the past half-century, an indispensable figure of postmodernism worldwide, Thomas Pynchon notoriously challenges his readers. This Companion provides tools for meeting that challenge. Comprehensive, accessible, lively, up-to-date and reliable, it approaches Pynchon’s fiction from various angles, calling on the expertise of an international roster of scholars at the cutting edge of Pynchon studies. Part I covers Pynchon’s fiction novel by novel from the sixties to the present, including such indisputable classics as The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity’s Rainbow. Part II zooms out to give a bird’s-eye view of Pynchon’s novelistic practice across his entire career. Part III surveys major topics of Pynchon’s fiction: history, politics, alterity (“otherness”), and science and technology. Designed for students, scholars and fans alike, the Companion begins with a biography of the elusive author and ends with a coda on how to read Pynchon and a bibliography for further reading. in g e r h . dal s g a a r d is Associate Professor of American Studies, Department of English, University of Aarhus, Denmark. l u c h e rm an is Professor of American Literature and Narrative Theory at the University of Antwerp. b ri an m ch al e is Distinguished Arts and Humanities Professor of English at the Ohio State University. A complete list of books in the series is at the end of this book Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012 THE CAMBRIDGE C O M PA N I O N TO THOMAS PY N C H O N ED ITED BY I NGER H. DALSG A A R D LUC HERMA N BRI AN MCHAL E Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012 c a m b r i d g e u n i v e rs i t y p r e s s Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, uk Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521173049 © Cambridge University Press 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to Thomas Pynchon / [edited by] Inger H. Dalsgaard, Luc Herman, Brian McHale. p. cm. – (Cambridge companions to literature) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-76974-7 (hardback) – is bn 978-0-521-17304-9 (paperback) 1. Pynchon, Thomas–Criticism and interpretation. I. Dalsgaard, Inger H. II. Herman, Luc. III. McHale, Brian. p s 3566.y55z5766 2011 813′.54–dc23 2011037730 is bn 978-0-521-76974-7 Hardback is bn 978-0-521-17304-9 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012 CONTENTS Notes on contributors Chronology of Pynchon’s life and works JOHN M. KRAFFT Introduction Page vii x 1 I N G E R H . D A L S G A A R D , L U C H E R M A N , B R IAN MCHALE Biographical note 9 JOHN M. KRAFFT PART I 1 CANON Early Pynchon 19 LUC HERMAN