Works
V.
The Crying of Lot 49
- 1966
- The traditional starting point,
Gravity's Rainbow
- 1973
- Most celebrated, WW2, the highpoint of Pynchon’s fiction.
Vineland
- 1990
- 1984, American culture from the 1960s to the 1980s
Mason & Dixon
- 1997
- The Mason–Dixon? Line (or Mason and Dixon's Line) was surveyed between 1763 and 1767
Against the Day
- 2006
- 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the time immediately following World War I
- "reflects many of the themes that he's developed over a decades-long career, plus it is pretty accessible."
Inherent Vice
- 2009
- The setting is Los Angeles during the winter of 1969 and summer of 1970
Inherent Vice, his newest, has a relatively fresh and new approach,
but ultimately will lead you down the same path.
It is probably a good choice because it's widely accessible now,
just having come out, and much shorter and easier to read,
while still engaging with much of his wit and themes.
Bleeding Edge
Recommendations
Random quotes:
If you don’t have time for Gravity’s Rainbow, read The Crying of Lot 49.
If you really want to know what it’s all about, read GR.
Start with V., The Crying of Lot 49, Against the Day, or Inherent Vice.
Then proceed to Gravity's Rainbow.
Mason & Dixon and Slow Learner should only be read by die-hard fans.
Links