{"id":979073,"date":"2025-10-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/?p=979073"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:39:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:39:25","slug":"thomas-pynchon-shadow-ticket-inherent-vice-cheesemongers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/books\/thomas-pynchon-shadow-ticket-inherent-vice-cheesemongers\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Pynchon Retains the Cartoon Zaniness of Inherent Vice In Shadow Ticket"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s been 12 long years since Thomas Pynchon released his eighth novel <em>Bleeding Edge<\/em>, and rumors have only continued to swirl about the famously elusive author. Like the hushed whispers surrounding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/movies\/quentin-tarantino-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best\/\">Tarantino\u2019s tenth and final film<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denofgeek.com\/tv\/george-rr-martin-winds-of-winter-never-finish-update\/\">George R.R. Martin\u2019s increasingly unlikely <em>A Song of Ice and Fire <\/em>conclusion<\/a>, most readers could only spend the past decade speculating about the iconic writer\u2019s projects, with many justifiably believing Pynchon\u2019s 2013 novel to be his last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as was the case with the lengthy dry spell between 1973\u2019s award-winning <em>Gravity\u2019s Rainbow<\/em> and 1990\u2019s less-than-well-received <em>Vineland<\/em>, fans have kept themselves busy wondering about the long-awaited novel Pynchon might be cooking up. Just as readers seemed ready to give up hope they\u2019d ever see one last hurrah from the 88-year-old <em>Mason &amp; Dixon<\/em> author, the literary world erupted with joy at the news that Pynch had one more novel left in him: the characteristically humorous postmodern neo-noir story, <em>Shadow Ticket.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\r\n\n\t\t<div class=\"ad-dog__cnx-container\"><script id=\"0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796\">\n\t\t\tcnx.cmd.push(function() {\n\t\t\t\tcnx({\n\t\t\t\t\tplayerId: \"106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t}).render(\"0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796\");\n\t\t\t});\n\t\t<\/script><\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<p>Like many of Pynchon\u2019s latter day works, <em>Shadow Ticket<\/em> acts as yet another zany take on the hard-boiled detective narrative. Channeling the same comedic energy as<em> Inherent Vice <\/em>and <em>Bleeding Edge <\/em>and tossing in a little bit of <em>The Crying of Lot 49<\/em> for good measure, Pynchon\u2019s latest novel takes readers on a spellbinding journey into the heart of Great Depression-era America and beyond.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For some, it might be a chaotic, plotless story filled with gangsters, cheese heiresses, and enough spies and counterspies to fill the entirety of the <em>James Bond<\/em> canon. But for most others, <em>Shadow Ticket<\/em> is the ultimate ode to Pynchon\u2019s larger body of work \u2013 a nostalgic tip of the hat for all those readers who have stuck by the author\u2019s side since <em>V.<\/em>\u2019s publication in 1963. And in many ways, that\u2019s achievement enough for a novelist of Pynchon\u2019s undeniably immense caliber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-hard-luck-and-hard-boiled-in-the-jazz-age\">Hard Luck and Hard-Boiled in the Jazz Age<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The year is 1932. Gangland Chicago is on its last legs, the king of organized crime, Al Capone, officially locked behind federal bars. In this post-Jazz Age Midwest, millions of blue-collar workers are busy fending for themselves amidst the hardships of the Great Depression and the rigorous crackdown on Prohibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"American History As Told By Thomas Pynchon\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"js-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Emk6gFlDeGI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Into this fray enters Hicks McTaggart, a former union strikebreaker turned down-on-his-luck private eye. Taking on a case for his employers at the Unamalgamated Ops detective agency in Milwaukee, Hicks reluctantly agrees to chase down Daphne Airmont, a one-time flame who\u2019s slated to become the millionaire heiress to the so-called \u201cAl Capone of Cheese,\u201d Bruno Airmont, who\u2019s long since made a name for himself as the leader of an underground dairy empire known as the Cheese Outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Embarking on a series of misadventures, misunderstandings, and more than a few misapprehensions, Hicks finds himself crossing halfway across the globe in search of the eccentric Daphne, departing for the similarly chaotic cities of Eastern Europe hot on the socialite\u2019s trail. There Hicks becomes entangled with various oddball characters all struggling to make sense of the Interwar chaos sweeping the land, all the while the horrors of World War II loom not-so-subtly in the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make it out of this perilous case alive, Hicks will have to use every trick in the official Gumshoe Manual to survive, outrunning ruthless Chicago gangsters, corrupt Interpol agents, bickering British spies, illusionists, motorcyclists, contract killers, and shady government officials to return to the Friday fish fries and bowling tournaments he longs for back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-big-cheese-back-at-it-again\">The Big Cheese Back At It Again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the grand scheme of things, Pynchon\u2019s work tends to fall neatly into two categories. There\u2019s the breathless epics he remains most well-known for (<em>V., Gravity\u2019s Rainbow, Mason &amp; Dixon<\/em>); and then there\u2019s the lighter genre pieces that are more accessible to general readers (<em>Lot 49, Vineland, Inherent Vice, Bleeding Edge<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Shadow Ticket <\/em>most assuredly falls into the latter category, serving as the same humorous subversion of the detective novel as <em>Inherent Vice <\/em>and<em> Bleeding Edge <\/em>before it. In many ways, one can almost describe <em>ST<\/em> as the ideal companion piece to both of the writer\u2019s earlier works, forming something of a stylistic neo-noir trilogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Inherent Vice - Official Trailer [HD]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"js-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wZfs22E7JmI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Swapping out an overreliance on homegrown pot in<em> Inherent Vice<\/em> for Old Fashioneds and towering German lagers in <em>Shadow Ticket<\/em>, Pynchon once again achieves the same headier tone he\u2019s become known for over the past six decades. The author\u2019s unparalleled wit and vivid sense of imagination is back and stronger than ever, chugging along like an autogyro slashing through the clouds. (A scene that, ironically, forms a pivotal moment in <em>Shadow Ticket\u2019<\/em>s climactic final chapters.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those wondering whether Pynchon might have lost his touch between novels, rest assured that <em>Shadow Ticket<\/em> is the same author we\u2019ve grown to know and love since Benny Profane first chased after albino alligators in New York\u2019s sewer system in <em>V.<\/em> Once again, Pynchon\u2019s propensity for unforgettable characterization is present in <em>Shadow Ticket,<\/em> as evidenced by such vibrantly-drawn names as Hop Wingdale, Swampscott Vobe, Zoltan von Kiss, and the utterly adorable Shirley Temple spoof, Squeezita Thickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only that, but the array of colorful situations the characters find themselves similarly echo Pynchon\u2019s best, most absurdist work. After all, what other writer could so convincingly present bizarre scenes as everyday occurrences, from mothers running off with circus elephant trainers to fugitive World War One submarines hurling beneath the ice of Lake Michigan? While most of these ideas and concepts might seem straight out of a Monty Python or early <em>SNL<\/em> sketch, they\u2019re just a matter of recourse for good old Mr. P \u2013 and for that reason, <em>Shadow Ticket<\/em>\u2019s deserves all of our love and attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-final-adieu-from-the-peerless-mr-pynchon\">A Final Adieu From the Peerless Mr. Pynchon?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s not all fun and games in Pynchon\u2019s latest venture either. As with all of the maestro\u2019s previous work, there\u2019s a prevalent danger underneath the surface of<em> Shadow Ticket:<\/em> a foreboding sense of dread that haunts every page. Characterized by a kind of grim gallows humor, characters are fully aware of the shift in the air of both America and Europe, from the emerging threat of fascist government groups to the obvious war building between the rival world powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Thomas Pynchon The Simpsons Gravity&#039;s Rainbow Cookbook\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"js-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Ds4OLUDIvg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, in spite of its historical settings, one can almost see <em>Shadow Ticket <\/em>as a sort of bold Pynchonian statement of the times today. Afterall, it\u2019s hard not to see parallels between the events of Pynchon\u2019s story and the problems of the modern age (joblessness, economic depression, geopolitical tensions between countries, the surge in authoritarian leaders sprouting up all over the globe, etc.). While that might be misreading things a bit, it\u2019s no secret that Pynchon has often used his period settings to touch upon ongoing problems of the day, be it the uncertainty and political anxiety of post-9\/11 America in <em>Bleeding Edge<\/em> or the Nixonian abuse of government power and surveillance in <em>Gravity\u2019s Rainbow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With its lean length and somewhat meandering story, <em>Shadow Ticke<\/em>t admittedly might not pack the same wallop of a punch as the author\u2019s earlier work. And like<em> Vineland, Inherent Vice,<\/em> or <em>Bleeding Edge,<\/em> it\u2019s unlikely to attract the same level of critical attention from fans and readers as his far more well-known 20th century novels. But for fans looking for one playful story from the fabled author, <em>Shadow Ticket <\/em>appears as a welcome sendoff to a man who made his career off surreal jokes, ridiculous character names, and hopelessly outrageous narratives. And at the end of the day, that\u2019s all we could ever want from Mr. Thomas Pynchon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Shadow Ticket is available for purchase now. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been 12 long years since Thomas Pynchon released his eighth novel Bleeding Edge, and rumors have only continued to swirl about the famously elusive author. Like the hushed whispers surrounding Tarantino\u2019s tenth and final film or George R.R. Martin\u2019s increasingly unlikely A Song of Ice and Fire conclusion, most readers could only spend the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":979074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"dog_exclude_from_homepage":false,"dog_do_not_display_featured_image":false,"dog_external_link":"","dog_product_price":0,"dog_product_button_label":"Buy Now","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[792],"article_type":[788],"topic":[],"sponsored":[],"feeds":[],"coauthors":[69524],"class_list":{"0":"post-979073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"article_type-reviews","9":"entry"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - 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