The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49 is the shortest of Pynchon’s novels & often considered his most accessible. The book is about a woman possibly unearthing the centuries-old conflict between two mail distribution companies, Thurn und Taxis & the Trystero or Tristero. The former actually existed as the 1st firm to distribute postal mail; the latter is an invention. The novel is often classed as an example of postmodern fiction.
After being defeated by Thurn und Taxis in the 1700s, the Trystero organization goes underground & continues to exist, with its mailboxes in the least suspected places, often appearing under their slogan WASTE, an acronym for We Await Silent Tristero’s Empire, & also a smart way of hiding their postboxes disguised as regular wastebins. The existence & plans of the shadowy organization are revealed bit by bit. Then again, it’s possible that the Tristero doesn’t exist at all. The novel’s main character, Oedipa Maas, is buffeted between believing & not believing in them, without ever finding firm proof either way. The Tristero may be a conspiracy, it may be a practical joke, or it may be that she’s hallucinating all the arcane references to the underground network appearing on bus windows, toilet walls etc.