Vineland Victorious?

[Paul Murphy]

davemarc writes:

>Not sure if I'd say it's his best, but I definitely love, respect, and
>admire it as much as his other books.  In other words, I'd say it's as
>worthy as the rest of the bunch.  Just a lot of words on paper, after all.

In anticipation of M&D, I've been re-reading Vineland the past few days ...
it was the first TRP I had encountered, back in 1990, and I remember it
being very entertaining and provocative but forgot almost everything else
about it. Right now I am enjoying it immensely, but I wouldn't say it's as
profound or as nuanced as V or GR. These days I look on it as a companion
to CoL49; both are fables of contemporary California, whereas V and GR
focus on European history. Which doesn't necessarily make CoL49 or Vl
trivial works; both have non-negligible strengths, not the least of which
being TRP's attempts to write credible female characters.

M&D's now on the shelf ... on a hunch, I dropped by my neighbourhood
bookstore this afternoon; they had just put the copies out for sale. Felt a
singular rush of euphoria ...

Cheers,
Paul