American novelist, 88 years old as of late 2025. An idiosyncratic, divisive storyteller who at his best blurs distinctions between plot and digression and between history and conspiracy theory. His standout novels include "Gravity's Rainbow", a kaleidoscopic quasi-thriller that won the National Book Award in 1974, and "Vineland" (1990), about the lives of radicals after the radical moment fades. "Vineland" inspired Paul Thomas Anderson's film "One Battle After Another", which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2026. Mr Anderson also adapted Mr Pynchon's "Inherent Vice" (2009) into a film in 2014.
In late 2025 Mr Pynchon published his ninth novel, "Shadow Ticket", set in 1932 and following a private eye dispatched from Milwaukee to Hungary.
The labyrinth of Ephebe is ancient and full of one hundred and one amazing things you can do with hidden springs, razor-sharp knives, and falling rocks.