Vineland
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, a culture devastated by the sobriety epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Tube. Here, in an Orwellian 1984, Zoyd Wheeler and his daughter Prairie search for Prairie's long-lost mother, a Sixties radical who ran off with a narc. Vineland is vintage Pynchon, full of quasi-allegorical characters, elaborate unresolved subplots, corny songs ("Floozy with an Uzi"), movie spoofs (Pee-wee Herman in The Robert Musil Story), and illicit sex (including a macho variation on the infamous sportscar scene in V.).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland is an offbeat, sharply funny satire about the collision of counterculture values and Reagan-era politics. It’s 1984 and laid-back ex-hippie Zoyd Wheeler just wants to keep his comfortably eccentric life in Northern California together while raising his teenage daughter, Prairie. But when Prairie starts digging into the mystery of her estranged mother, Frenesi, she uncovers a radical student filmmaking collective, personal betrayals, and shadowy government agents pulling the strings. The plot jumps between decades, weaving in larger-than-life characters and absurd twists, but always stays anchored in the novel’s core themes: family ties and the cost of selling out. We loved how Pynchon’s trademark wit turns political satire into something fast-moving and irreverent, full of sly jokes and sudden bursts of slapstick. Graham Winton’s engaging narration keeps the sprawling cast distinct and the story brisk, making even the strangest moments feel grounded. A playful, off-kilter epic, Vineland shows Pynchon at his most accessible.
