More than any other living American novelist, Thomas Pynchon demands comparison with the likes of Joyce, Kafka, and Conrad. Pynchon draws on the entire history of Western culture as he questions its ideas of order. This text has been revised and expanded to include essays on Vineland and Mason & Dixon. This title, Thomas Pynchon, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of Thomas Pynchon through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on Thomas Pynchon, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.