Companion to the Crying of Lot 49 [Paperback]

J. Kerry Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

This new expanded and updated edition contains more than 500 notes keyed to the 2006 Harper Perennial Modern Classics, the 1986 Harper Perennial Library, and the 1967 Bantam editions. The majority of notes are interpretive, although some are designed to provide a historical context or to recover the meaning of a reference that, over time, has proved to be ephemeral. This new edition adds quotations and paraphrases drawn from criticism published since 1994. The result is more than seventy new entries in the list of works cited. More than fifty annotations have been added and approximately eighty annotations have been expanded.

--This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anyone who teaches the novel or writes about it in the future will want to take along this useful companion." --Steven Moore, Review of Contemporary Fiction --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

About the Author

J. Kerry Grant is a professor of English at St. Lawrence University and author of A Companion to V. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press; 1st ed edition (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820316369
• ISBN-13: 978-0820316369
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,530,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Use with caution, March 7, 2002

By 

mrgrieves08 (tucson) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Companion to the Crying of Lot 49 (Paperback)

This little book written to provide insight into the myriad of Pynchon's obscure references and symbolic appellations in The Crying of Lot 49 is a worthwhile source of help if used with discretion and common sense. Although many of Grant's entries are useful to untangle some of Pynchon's more obscure references, others will simply lead you further down the path of confusion. The problem lies in the fact that while many of Grant's suggestions are useful, others simply bring about the same type of confusion that he is trying to address, since he often gives more than one possible explanation for each passage discussed. That is not to say that the book is not useful, it is, only that The Crying of Lot 49 by its very nature resists such means of explanation. But as reader of Pynchon already know, any help is welcome. As long as the reader keeps in mind that this book is meant only to introduce "possible meanings" and "complimentary facts", which may or may not correspond to what Pynchon actually has hidden in his words. Nonetheless a good source of info and a help to anyone exasperated by the twisting and turning of Pynchon's view of the postmodern world.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for a first-time reader, but good for the next, July 22, 2005

By 

D. Eigenvector - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Companion to the Crying of Lot 49 (Paperback)

I would strongly encourage peopling reading The Crying of Lot 49 for the first time to NOT use this Companion. At best, it will only confuse because Grant clearly assumes that his readers are already familiar with the novel - odd but true is the fact that you need to have read the novel in order to understand the Companion! At worst, the Companion could ruin the experience of this wonderful novel since Grant freely discusses events from the end of the book early on in the Companion. This spoils the natural flow and discovery process.

Having said that, I used the Companion during my second reading of this novel and found it to be interesting and quite helpful in getting more out of the novel. Personally, I get the impression that the Companion is targeted for someone (like Grant) who teaches literature courses - it's jam packed with the kind of speculation, interpretation, and analysis that some people (often professors) love while others (often students) find distracting or pointless. For my tastes it goes overboard fairly often - a bloated discussion of the significance of a Tupperware party is but one of many possible examples. But that's OK since it's easy to skim or skip sections that aren't of interest.

I feel fortunate that I did not have the Companion when I first read The Crying of Lot 49, but equally fortunate that I did have it my second time through. Hey, learning the origin of the name Bloody Chiclitz is worth the price of the book alone.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely essential Lot 49 resource., October 8, 1999

By 

J. Stokley Grimes ([e-mail]) (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Companion to the Crying of Lot 49 (Paperback)

I conduct the Berkeley Pynchon reading-group, Berkeley Pynheads. I can say, without reservation, that Kerry's book is absolutely essential for gaining access to The Crying of Lot 49. As a bonus, it is an endlessly fascinating read in itself. It is like an encyclopedia of American arcana. Buy it.