Thomas Pynchon and the Case of California: The Beach, Technology, and Entertainment in Bleeding Edge

Abstract

A significant amount of research exists that discusses the elements, and other important topics, of Pynchon’s California novels, a trilogy consisting of The Crying of Lot 49, Inherent Vice, and Vineland. However, few have sought to discuss Bleeding Edge as part of the California sequence. This thesis will seek to illuminate to what extent Pynchon has infused his most recent novel, set in New York plus its immediate environs, with elements distinctly Californian, with a focus on three major topics.

An introductory chapter will be given to the discussion of California’s four major industries, and its Beach, as a way of illustrating which elements are oft discussed in Pynchon’s Californian works and why they are central to his narratives. Subsequent chapters will focus on the larger themes represented by the four major industries; with the pornographic and film industry being referential to entertainment, the aviation and computer industry as a part of the technological, and the Beach representing California’s counter-cultural side.

Devices such as TVs and computers will be analyzed in depth, attention will be paid to character behavior and actions performed by them, and the DeepArcher project will be extensively discussed. In the end, it will become clear that Bleeding Edge should be considered as part of Pynchon’s California.