The Crying of Lot 49One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years “The comedy crackles, the puns pop, the satire explodes.”—The New York Times “The work of a virtuoso with prose . . . His intricate symbolic order [is] akin to that of Joyce’s Ulysses.”—Chicago Tribune “A puzzle, an intrigue, a literary and historical tour de force.”—San Francsisco Examiner The highly original satire about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in a worldwide 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. |
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asked Oedipa Baby Igor beach Blobb bones bottle cops couldn’t Courier’s Tragedy dark dead didn’t disk jockey door dreams Driblette Ercole eyes face Faggio Fallopian freeway Funch Genghis Cohen Gennaro girl Godzilla II hair happened he’d head Hilarius inside Inverarity Inverarity’s Jesús John Nefastis KCUF Kinneret knew letter Listen looked Maas Maxwell’s Demon Mazatlán Metzger muted post horn never Niccolò night Oedipa Oedipa sat once paperback Paranoids Pasquale perhaps Perry Mason Peter Pinguid Pierce play Pony Express Porky Pig post horn Presso remember Revenge Plays Roseman San Narciso Scurvhamite seemed she’d smiled somehow Squamuglia stamp stared sure talk tell there’s thing thought Thurn and Taxis told tonight Tristero trying voice waiting walked watching Wharfinger What’s who’d who’s wondered word yelled Yoyodyne Zapf’s