Thomas Pynchon

Born

in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, The United States

May 08, 1937

Genre

Influences

Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of fiction. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known today: V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Gravity's Rainbow (1973), Vineland (1990), Mason & Dixon (1997), and Against the Day (2006).

Pynchon is regarded by many readers and critics as one of the finest contemporary authors. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in L ...more

Combine Editions
Thomas Pynchon’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 182,867 ratings · 14,645 reviews · 37 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Crying of Lot 49 3.70 avg rating — 58,458 ratings — published 1966 — 93 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gravity's Rainbow 4.03 avg rating — 30,323 ratings — published 1973 — 70 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Inherent Vice 3.72 avg rating — 22,637 ratings — published 2009 — 54 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	V. 3.97 avg rating — 17,020 ratings — published 1963 — 59 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mason & Dixon 4.05 avg rating — 8,070 ratings — published 1997 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bleeding Edge 3.56 avg rating — 9,180 ratings — published 2013 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vineland 3.67 avg rating — 8,306 ratings — published 1990 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Against the Day 4.11 avg rating — 5,684 ratings — published 2006 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Slow Learner: Early Stories 3.48 avg rating — 3,700 ratings — published 1984 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Secret Integration 4.18 avg rating — 180 ratings — published 1964	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Thomas Pynchon

“Every weirdo in the world is on my wavelength.”
― Thomas Pynchon

2447 likes

“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

tags: answers, paranoia, proverbs, questions, wit

1503 likes

“Life's single lesson: that there is more accident to it than a man can ever admit to in a lifetime and stay sane.”
― Thomas Pynchon, V.

1127 likes

See all Thomas Pynchon's quotes »

Polls

What should we read for our fourth quarter (October through December) 2011 group read?

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

7 votes 43.8%

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

4 votes 25.0%

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

3 votes 18.8%

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

2 votes 12.5%

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

0 votes 0.0%

16 total votes

2 comments

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