Incomprehensible Vice

Thomas Pynchon is one of the most renowned writers of the post-60's era. With his new novel, Inherent Vice, the noted recluse looks to go back to the seventies, 1970 to be exact. His novel plays out like a sequel to the Coen Brothers 1997 film, The Big Lebowski, unlike that stoner film classic this book is completely unlikeable. Everything about this book is annoying and drives you insane, whether it's the characters names (such as, Doc Sportello, Shasta Hepworth and Bigfoot Bjornsen) or the million references to the counter culture and the sixties. The book is not all bad some of the side plots are very funny, whether it's a story about a cop/real estate salesman/adman/commercial actor named Bigfoot, or a story about a massage parlor where neo-nazis like to go to, to meet their boss named Mickey Wolfmann, nothing makes sense and everything is a joke as if Pynchon had attempted to mix Raymond Chandler and Saturday Night Live together. The story (if there really is one), deals with a hippie private investigator named Doc who is searching for his missing ex girlfriend named Shasta who may or may not have been kidnapped, inadvertently while pursuing his lady Doc is framed for murder of a nazi named Glen. How much this appeals to you depends on how much you can stomach, be warned the book is a slog.