Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, "Against the Day" moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the revolution, Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all. With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained ...
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Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, "Against the Day" moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the revolution, Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all. With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. The sizable cast of characters includes anarchists, balloonists, gamblers, corporate tycoons, drug enthusiasts, innocents and decadents, mathematicians, mad scientists, shamans, psychics and stage magicians, spies, detectives, adventuresses and hired guns. There are cameo appearances by Nikola Tesla, Bela Lugosi, and Groucho Marx. As an era of certainty comes crashing down around their ears and an unpredictable future commences, these folks are mostly just trying to pursue their lives. Sometimes they manage to catch up; sometimes it's their lives that pursue them. Meanwhile, Thomas Pynchon is up to his usual business. Characters stop what they're doing to sing what are for the most part stupid songs. Strange sexual practices take place. Obscure languages are spoken, not always idiomatically. Contrary-to-fact occurrences occur. Maybe it's not the world, but with a minor adjustment or two it's what the world might be.
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Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $11.90, fair condition, Sold by Open Books Ltd rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Fair. No dust jacket. Open Books is a nonprofit social venture that provides literacy experiences for thousands of readers each year through inspiring programs and creative capitalization of books.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $11.92, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Penguin Press.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $12.67, good condition, Sold by Goldstone Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ammanford, CARMS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by Jonathan Cape.
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Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $13.46, fair condition, Sold by Goodbooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Fair. This copy may contain significant wear including bending heavy writing tears and or water damage. This book is a functional copy not necessarily a beautiful copy. Copy may have loose pages. May not include access codes or CDs. May be an Ex library book with stickers and stamps. Dustjacket may be missing.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $13.47, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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Book is considered to be in good or better condition. The actual cover image may not match the stock photo. Hard cover books may show signs of wear on the spine cover or dust jacket. Paperback book may show signs of wear on spine or cover as well as having a slight bend curve or creasing to it. Book should have minimal to no writing inside and no highlighting. Pages should be free of tears or creasing. Stickers should not be present on cover or elsewhere and any CD or DVD expected with the book is included. Book is not a former library copy.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $13.65, good condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
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Good. Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $13.65, fair condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
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Fair. This copy has clearly been enjoyed-expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $14.19, good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Penguin Books.
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Good. The pages are tanned at the edges. The copy shows external wear, but is in otherwise clean condition. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $15.94, good condition, Sold by BayStateBooks rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Smithfield, RI, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by The Penguin Press.
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The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting and there might be a From the library of label. Boxed set packaging shrink wrap or included media like CDs may be missing.
Add this copy of Against the Day to cart. $16.37, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Vintage.
Thomas Pynchon's first book in almost 10 years is...what we've come to expect. Against the Day is a sprawling narrative that includes over 100 characters and covers time travel, advanced mathematics, mining sabotage, a gang of boy scout-like zeppelin-riders, and much more. It's dense and convoluted, just like everything Pynchon has ever written, but this feels different. He's more settled in this novel, maybe due to his age, but the plot feels more like a regular book than a typical Pynchon head-spinner. His characters are as rich and colorful as ever, breaking into song for no reason, walking through walls that aren't really there, performing complex zeta-functions on the bottom of beer bottles...you get the idea. While anyone discovering Pynchon should start with The Crying of Lot 49, this is a welcome addition to his catalog.