Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pynchon writes two distinct types of novels. V., Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon, and Against the Day are is big (literally) complexly plotted novels that frequently involve hundreds of characters and huge forces of history. They are my favorites, but they require serious commitment and even then can be difficult to read (I've never actually gotten through Mason & Dixon.) He also writes smaller stories that generall…
The Crying of Lot 49 is also good to start with because it's only 150 pages or so. His collection of short stories, Slow Learner, has some gems in it. I really liked the second story, Low-lands, the last time I read it. Around 20 years ago, when I was in college, I collected as much of his non-book stuff as I could and put it on a web page. Oddly, it seems it has survived: http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/in…
Re: From Thomas Pynchon, a novel of the dot-com era and the end of history
#31My favorite from Slow Learner was "Under the Rose", which he later turned into a chapter of V. I loved the absurdism, steampunk-ish bits, and theme of history as chaotic. They're all pretty good, though.