Pynchon's Sound of Music is dedicated to cataloging exploring and interpreting the manifold
manifestations of music in Thomas Pynchon's work. An original mix of close and distant readings
this monograph employs a variety of disciplines-from literary studies and musicology to
philosophy media theory and history-to explain Pynchon through music and music through
Pynchon.Encyclopedic and eclectic-though never exhaustive-in its approach Pynchon's Sound of
Music discusses the author's use of instruments such as the kazoo the harmonica or the
saxophone and embarks on close readings of the most salient and musicologically tantalizing
passages. Zooming out to a bird's eye view all his historical musical references and allusions
are put into perspective to trace the trends and tendencies in the development of the oeuvre's
interest in music.A treasure trove for fans and an invaluable source for future scholarship
this book includes the Pynchon Playlist a 900+item catalog of all musical references and an
exhaustive index of more than 700 appearances of musical instruments.---Christian Hänggi amps
up the importance of Pynchon's oeuvre by tuning it to the musical registers upon which a number
of films and novels depends. From Nietzsche to Pynchon music has served to underscore psychic
meltdowns philosophical rifts and remote cultural controls. Hänggi explores these connections
with passion and a rare comprehension of the death marches and ecstatic abandon to which
programmed by Pynchon's cadences we succumb.-Avital Ronell New York UniversityThis book about
music in Thomas Pynchon's novels and other writing is lively entertaining and damn near
exhaustive. Christian Hänggi discusses everything from Pynchon's musical allusions to the
made-up song lyrics which punctuate his books to the ways that these novels themselves are
organized as musical forms. You can read it straight through or you can search for the bits
that you find most interesting-either way if you have the slightest interest in Pynchon you
are in for an enjoyable ride.-Steven Shaviro DeRoy Professor of English Wayne State
UniversityIn this first comprehensive study of music in Pynchon's fiction amateur musician and
literary scholar Christian Hänggi brilliantly explores not just the uses Pynchon makes of music
to tell his stories as a more conventional study might do but the stories music tells in
Pynchon's fiction. History musicology and literary criticism contribute to a range of analyses
from the ethical to the quantitative supporting the core argument that in Pynchon the
aesthetic ... is always in some way political. A research project and a labor of love
Pynchon's Sound of Music is richly informative entertaining often surprising and
provocative.-John M. Krafft Miami University Ohio
