Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow [Hardcover]

Zak Smith (Author), Steve Erickson (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2006 | ISBN-10: 097731278X | ISBN-13: 978-0977312788 | Edition: Revised Edition

Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), set in an alternative-universe version of World War II, has been called a modern Finnegan’s Wake for its challenging language, wild anachronisms, hallucinatory happenings, and fever-dream imagery. With Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow, artist Zak Smith at once eases and expands readers’ experience of the book. A leading exponent of punk-based, DIY art, Smith here presents his most ambitious project to date — an art book exactly as long as the work it’s interpreting: 760 drawings, paintings, photos, and less definable images in 760 pages. Extraordinary tableaux of the detritus of war — a burned-out Königstiger tank, a melted machine gun — coexist alongside such phantasmagoric Pynchon inventions as the “stumbling bird” and “Girgori the octopus.” Smith has stated his aim to be “as literal as possible” in interpreting Gravity’s Rainbow, but his images are as imaginative and powerfully unique as the prose they honor.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow (1973), set in an alternative-universe version of World War II, has been called a modern Finnegan's Wake for its challenging language, wild anachronisms, hallucinatory happenings, and fever-dream imagery. With Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow, artist Zak Smith at once eases and expands readers' experience of the book. A leading exponent of punk-based, DIY art, Smith here presents his most ambitious project to date -- an art book exactly as long as the work it's interpreting: 760 drawings, paintings, photos, and less definable images in 760 pages. Extraordinary tableaux of the detritus of war -- a burned-out Königstiger tank, a melted machine gun -- coexist alongside such phantasmagoric Pynchon inventions as the "stumbling bird" and "Girgori the octopus." Smith has stated his aim to be "as literal as possible" in interpreting Gravity's Rainbow, but his images are as imaginative and powerfully unique as the prose they honor. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Zak Smith: Brooklyn, New York

Zak Smith was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1976 and grew up in Washington, DC. After receiving a BFA from Cooper Union in 1998, he studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and went on to receive an MFA from Yale University in 2001. Smith's body of work primarily comprises portraits, abstract paintings, and illustrations executed in acrylic. An enduring interest in comic books informs his dynamic and obsessively detailed depictions of people, objects, and stories. Allied with punk and hardcore culture and the DIY aesthetic associated with these movements, Smith draws on traditions of decorative art to produce visually complex, labor-intensive pictures characterized by intricate patterns and vivid coloration. The Gravity's Rainbow illustrations, which were featured in the 2004 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, are now in the collection of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Other public collections containing Smith's work include the Museum of Modern Art and the Progressive Corporation. Zak Smith is represented by Fredericks & Freiser in New York City. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

Steve Erickson: Los Angeles, CA

Steve (Stephen Michael) Erickson is an American novelist, essayist, and critic. His seven novels—such as Our Ecstatic Days and Tours of the Black Clock—escape traditional classifications; no literary category describes them adequately. They are usually placed on the borders of surrealism, or magic realism. Currently, he is a teacher with the CalArts MFA writing program and the editor of the literary magazine Black Clock. He also has written about film for Los Angeles magazine since 2001.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: Tin House Books; Revised Edition edition (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097731278X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977312788
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.8 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,123,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Punk artist and icon Zak Smith made a name for himself by visually interpreting Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and drawing pictures of girls in the "naked girl business." His artistic pedigree and acute observation have landed him in high-profile shows from the Whitney to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and his work has appeared in numerous publications worldwide.

Zak Smith's books include Pictures Of Girls and Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow (Tin House Books), and the forthcoming We Did Porn. He is a frequent contributor to several independent comics and zines, including Paping and See How Pretty, See How Smart. He lives in Los Angeles, where he works as an artist and performs in adult films.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "There's all these cool kinds of pictures!", June 24, 2008

By 

Gregory Parrish "zengreg" (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow (Paperback)

My two sons (Zachary and Alexander) have been saving their allowance and doing extra chores to save money for a Nintendo DS (they save half, my wife & I pay half). This has been a huge deal for them because they each really want one.

Yesterday, my wife took the boys to a bookstore, and 7 1/2 year old Zach saw Zak Smith's book based on Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow". He could not, would not put it down; he was mesmerized. He's not one to want, want, want, but this, he had to have. He looked at various and sundry art-related books for at least a half hour, and kept coming back to this book. Which was $40. After much discussion and pondering, Zach was resolute: My wife had a $16 credit at the store which she let him use and he kicked in $20 of his $27 to get the book. The point is, he gave up his Gameboy money for an art book. A big deal. He said "You know how interested I am in art, Mom!"

I've read a bit of Pynchon ("Vineland") but when I've leafed through "Granvity's Rainbow" in the past, I've thought it challenging, circular, dense. Very much like, though not so much as, the uber-interpretive "Finegan's Wake" by James Joyce (referenced, coincidentally, by Zak Smith's book). So at once I was impressed; thumbing through Zach's Zak book, even more so. It IS mesmerizing; page after page of fascinating, provoking, stirring beauty. You can get lost in there.

Not only do I now have a renewed vigor to tackle "Gravity's Rainbow", but am inspired to have (with Zach's permission) Zak Smith's profoundly astonishing book along for the cerebral roller coaster, a benevolent guide to provide dazzling clues as I navigate the former's intellectually demanding jungle.

Whether $26.37 or $39.95, worth every penny...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Great Artist., December 30, 2007

By 

L. Olson "olsonl13" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow (Paperback)

I'm totally blown away by this book, after seeing these drawings at the Walker I had to own it. Check out his website to see all the drawings on line.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of praise, January 16, 2007

By 

Mr. Apollo (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow (Paperback)

First off, many thanks to amazon.com for stocking the hardcover slipcase edition of this book. At first, they only had the paperback available online. I wrote to their customer service asking them to also carry the hardcover, which they soon added. It is a volume that you might want to consider spending the extra money to buy in the hardcover edition. It's worth it.

The pictures are incredible.