This pioneering work, first published in 1974, is still regarded as the best introduction to the fiction of America's premier novelist. Six chapters explore the themes of Pynchon's short fiction, "V., The Crying of Lot 49, " and "Gravity's Rainbow, " while a section added especially for this edition extends the assessment of the author's stature and impact on modern literature. The book is particularly helpful to those readers interested in Pynchon's encyclopedic approach to writing, since Slade clearly identifies the cultural, technological, and scientific elements woven into the novels.