The Crying of Lot 49

This book taught me that you can surf the line between realism and the incredible (even the ridiculous). The main character, Oedipa Maas, is my favorite heroine because of her openness to every tantalizing possibility (and the possibilities keep ramifying infinitely).

Everything in this book is both fully a symbol and fully itself.

In this male-heavy list, this book refreshingly provides a female protagonist to follow into a maze with no discernable exit. Oedipa Maas is underwater from the outset as she wanders around California, the exact vector and identity of danger never quite clear (though it has something to do with warring, private postal services).

Like many post-modern, maximalist works, there are far too many abstract references to parse at the moment, but the overall ride is a delight just the same.

I love a good conspiracy story, and this is one of the whackiest, most original ever. Steeped in 1960s culture and packed with literary and pop-cultural references (and itself referenced by William Gibson, Star Trek, and Radiohead, amongst many others), the story follows Oedipa Maas as she tries to unravel a nefarious plot that spans the centuries.

Every time I reread the novel, I discover something new, and I’m sure I still don’t get even half of the allusions. The book is zany and funny, but I can’t help wondering whether this conspiracy might not have some basis in… show more.