Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, "Against the Day" moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the revolution, Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all. With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained ...
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Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, "Against the Day" moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the revolution, Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all. With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. The sizable cast of characters includes anarchists, balloonists, gamblers, corporate tycoons, drug enthusiasts, innocents and decadents, mathematicians, mad scientists, shamans, psychics and stage magicians, spies, detectives, adventuresses and hired guns. There are cameo appearances by Nikola Tesla, Bela Lugosi, and Groucho Marx. As an era of certainty comes crashing down around their ears and an unpredictable future commences, these folks are mostly just trying to pursue their lives. Sometimes they manage to catch up; sometimes it's their lives that pursue them. Meanwhile, Thomas Pynchon is up to his usual business. Characters stop what they're doing to sing what are for the most part stupid songs. Strange sexual practices take place. Obscure languages are spoken, not always idiomatically. Contrary-to-fact occurrences occur. Maybe it's not the world, but with a minor adjustment or two it's what the world might be.
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Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $3.59, fair condition, Sold by Southern Oregon Goodwill Indus rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Medford, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
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Fair. Reading Copy. May have damage to cover, notes, Text Legible. Cover art may not match stock image. Products and packages may require more time to be delivered due to limited transportation availability as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 impacts. Fast Shipping-Safe and Secure Mailer!
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $3.59, fair condition, Sold by newlegacybooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Annandale, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
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Fair. The cover shows heavy wear. There is light highlighting or handwriting through out the book. Fast shipping and order satisfaction guaranteed. A portion of your purchase benefits Non-Profit Organizations, First Aid and Fire Stations!
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $4.58, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $4.98, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of the Olympics rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from TACOMA, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Press.
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Fair. An acceptable and readable copy. All pages are intact, and the spine and cover are also intact. This item may have light highlighting, writing or underlining through out the book, curled corners, missing dust jacket and or stickers.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $4.99, good condition, Sold by Solr Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Skokie, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Press.
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Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $8.15, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $9.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Thomas Pynchon's first book in almost 10 years is...what we've come to expect. Against the Day is a sprawling narrative that includes over 100 characters and covers time travel, advanced mathematics, mining sabotage, a gang of boy scout-like zeppelin-riders, and much more. It's dense and convoluted, just like everything Pynchon has ever written, but this feels different. He's more settled in this novel, maybe due to his age, but the plot feels more like a regular book than a typical Pynchon head-spinner. His characters are as rich and colorful as ever, breaking into song for no reason, walking through walls that aren't really there, performing complex zeta-functions on the bottom of beer bottles...you get the idea. While anyone discovering Pynchon should start with The Crying of Lot 49, this is a welcome addition to his catalog.
