Signs and Symptoms: Thomas Pynchon and the Contemporary World

Signs and Symptoms: Thomas Pynchon and the Contemporary World by Peter L. Cooper situates Pynchon’s achievement within the philosophical, literary, and scientific currents of modern thought, emphasizing his place among American counterrealists. While earlier novelists grounded their work in the traditions of realism and naturalism—offering psychologically rounded characters, coherent narration, and cause-and-effect logic—Pynchon and his contemporaries, including Heller, Vonnegut, Barth, Bur...