Why read Vineland?

Book cover of Vineland

Book description

Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, a culture devastated by the sobriety epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Tube. Here, in an Orwellian 1984, Zoyd Wheeler and his daughter Prairie search for Prairie's long-lost mother, a Sixties radical who ran off with a…

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Northern California

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Why read it?

1 author picked Vineland as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Dave Walsh

Author

Maybe ten years ago, I first picked this book up, and like most Pynchon books, if you aren’t in the mood to read something longer, difficult, and absurd, it’s not gonna work for you. For whatever reason, that’s where I was at the time, but it felt strange to consider Pynchon my favorite author without reading everything and digesting it properly. So, I came back to this book, and I’m so happy I did.

There are definitely people who consider Pynchon impenetrable, pretentious, or worse things, but in truth, if you approach his books for what they are, you can’t…

From Dave's 3 favorite reads in 2023.