The Crying of Lot 49

E63178

novel postmodern novel satirical novel

The Crying of Lot 49 is a short postmodern novel by Thomas Pynchon that follows Oedipa Maas as she uncovers a possibly conspiratorial underground postal system, exploring themes of communication, entropy, and paranoia.

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	novel → postmodern novel → satirical novel →
author	Thomas Pynchon →
containsFictionalWork	The Courier’s Tragedy →
countryOfOrigin	United States →
fictionalOrganization	Thurn und Taxis → Tristero → W.A.S.T.E. →
followedBy	Gravity’s Rainbow →
genre	metafiction → mystery fiction → postmodern literature → satire →
hasSymbol	muted post horn →
length	short novel →
literaryMovement	postmodernism →
mainCharacter	Dr. Hilarius → Genghis Cohen → John Nefastis → Metzger → Mike Fallopian → Mucho Maas → Oedipa Maas → Pierce Inverarity → Randolph Driblette →
narrativePerspective	third-person narration →
notableFor	dense allusiveness → open-ended conclusion → use of paranoia as structuring device →
numberOfChapters	6 →
originalLanguage	English →
plotElement	Tristero → secret communication network → underground postal system →
precededBy	V. →
protagonist	Oedipa Maas →
publicationYear	1966 →
publisher	J. B. Lippincott & Co. →
setInPeriod	1960s →
setting	California → San Narciso →
theme	American consumer culture → alienation → communication → conspiracy → entropy → information theory → interpretation and meaning → paranoia →

Referenced by (3)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
V. (novel) →	followedBy
Time 100 best English-language novels list →	hasWork
Thomas Pynchon →	notableWork