Mason & Dixon Thomas Pynchon Book
by Thomas Pynchon

Even though any decent Lit Prof will tell you Thomas Pynchon is one of the half-dozen most important living writers in any language, many people still don't know who he is. Most people start with either The Crying of Lot 49, which is a rather slight if very great work, or with Gravity's Rainbow, which, like Joyce's Ulysses, is a serious challenge to read well, even for very good readers.

I recommend starting with his later masterpiece, Mason & Dixon. It is a very substantial work, but also eminently readable. It tells the tale(s) of Charles Mason, astronomer and Jeremiah Dixon, surveyor; two Englishmen who come to America to draw a line between Maryland and Pennsylvania a few years before the War of Independence.

The book is wise and witty about America, Britain, colonialism, love, loss and friendship in the 18th Century--and for all time. When you are done, you will want to go back to the first page and enjoy it again. When you finish it the second time, feel free to try your hand at Gravity's Rainbow at The Crying Of Lot 49. You'll be glad you did.

EAW