Zoyd Wheeler is a former hippie musician living in northern California in 1984, and his daughter Prairie is looking for her mother, Frenesi Gates, who vanished into witness protection after betraying a radical film collective. Federal prosecutor Brock Vond, obsessed with Frenesi, is still pursuing her. Pynchon fills the plot with television, tie-in paranoia, ninja nuns, revolution remembered by the Reagan era, and family ties that span generations. The setting is a land where sixties idealism meets surveillance and consumer culture.
It suits readers who like Pynchon's humor and conspiracy mood but want a shorter, warmer entry than Gravity's Rainbow. It is about parents and children as much as politics. Newcomers may find the plot busy, but the book's jokes, songs and tenderness make it easy to enjoy even without catching every reference.
Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1990
- Language
- EN
