Mason and Dixon (Magill’s Literary Annual 1998)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Pynchon
- First Published: 1997
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The mid- to late eighteenth century
- Setting: England, South Africa, South Atlantic, the American colonies, and Scotland
- Principal Characters: Charles Mason, Rebekah Mason, The Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke, Jeremiah Dixon, Nevil Maskelyne, Armand Allègre, Zepho Beck, Captain Zhang, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Friendship, Dreams, Fantasy, Adventure, Paranoia
- Locales: England, Oceans, American colonies, Scotland, South Africa, St. Helena, Sumatra
Next to J. D. Salinger, Thomas Pynchon is the most famous recluse among important twentieth century American authors, having craftily covered his tracks for some thirty-five years as of the publication of Mason and Dixon. He majored in engineering physics at Cornell University before switching to English, worked as a technical writer for Boeing from 1960 to 1962, then went underground, surfacing only occasionally with novels that are as idiosyncratic and convoluted as they are brilliant. Few readers will disagree that he can write like the proverbial bat out of—no known...
[The entire page is 2044 words long]
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