Chronic City vs. Inherent Vice

[Dave Monroe]

"... The work of Thomas Pynchon inevitably comes to mind. Like Mr.
Pynchon, Mr. Lethem loves crazy names—we encounter (along with
Insteadman and Tooth) Sadie Zapping, Laird Noteless, Rossmoor Danzig
and Strabo Blandiana, among many others. Like Mr. Pynchon, Mr. Lethem
revels in a goofy, puzzling randomness, as well as in the presentation
of enthusiastic arcana. But beneath it all beats a pulse of paranoia.
With the narrator, readers of Mr. Lethem's novel travel on a lively
and learned odyssey of their own, trying to sort through information,
flirting with chaos and running into wing-nuts, oddballs and dead
ends."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574457112470836746.html

"I’d prefer to have read the novel just for the inventive fun of it --
as I did another recent fiction notable for its odd names and billows
of pot smoke, Thomas Pynchon’s “Inherent Vice.” Lethem’s blanket
sneer, though, makes that difficult, while a peroration from Chase is
ill-suited to the character and sounds like an awkward bid for
gravitas."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=akILpqKPJcvY