THE FICTIONAL LABYRINTHS OF THOMAS PYNCHON by David Seed

Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1988. First edition. Hardcover. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. This lucidly written study gives a careful and detailed reading of all of Pynchon's fiction from the early stories to Gravity's Rainbow. Seed stresses the intricacy of Pynchon's narratives and discusses such issues as his parody of myth, influences from the Beats, and various uses of comedy and American culture. While taking previous criticism into account, Seed reinterprets Pynchon's texts from an original perspective, showing the continuities, obsessions, and deeper generative concerns that run through all of Pynchon's writing. Seed concludes his analysis with a chapter relating the themes of Pynchon's writing to the novels for which he has written promotional comments. A unique appendix includes the text of a letter written by Pynchon discussing the research for his third novel. 268 pages.