The Top Ten Goofs of Inherent Vice

Just finished: Inherent Vice.

Continuing the tradition I founded in a post on Vineland, to which IV is nearly a prequel — stylistically, thematically, in place and character, they are of a piece — I give you my ten favorite Pynchonian jokes, riffs, and goofs in this book.  Once again, feel free to print out and take to the library to enjoy in air-conditioned splendor.  In paginated order:

-Wouldn’t be a Pynchon book without at least one ridiculous TV-commercial setup: here, it’s Bigfoot Bjornsen, an LAPD cop of ambiguous motivations and allegiances, who “moonlight[s] after a busy day of civil-rights violation” in commercials in an Afro wig and cape with a ” relentless terror squad of small children,” with whom he’s worked up a W.C. Fields routine.  p. 9-10.

-Doc’s conversation with his lawyer, Sauncho Smilax, p. 28: a laugh-out-loud drug-addled discussion of Donald Duck’s whisker-stubble that’s downright Tarantinoesque. (He has a hilarious riff on Charlie the Tuna on p. 119, as well.)

-St. Flip of Lawndale, “for whom Jesus Christ was not only personal savior but surfing consultant as well,” and the conversation at surfer-breakfast joint Wavos about the lost island of Lemuria on p. 99-102.  I especially like “GNASH, the Global Network of Anecdotal Surfer Horseshit.”

-The counterfeit U.S. currency featuring the face of a tripping Richard Nixon, p. 117 and following.

-Doc and Denis’s trip to the house of the surf-rock band the Boards, p. 124-136, chock-full of crazy details and tidbits, including a fun discussion of the difference between American and English zombies.

-“Soul Gidget,” by black surf band Meatball Flag, p. 155.  Enough said.  Some band needs to cover this, already. Pynchon’s really on top of his game with the music in this book.  (The country song “Full Moon in Pisces” on p. 241-42 is also great.)

-Pynchon’s one of the great scene-setters in American literature.  My favorite example here is probably on p. 236, his gorgeous description of the decrepit Kismet casino from bygone Vegas.  Also excellent: the amazing global-warming-inspired paragraph on p. 98.

-The motel for “Toobfreex” on p. 253-54, with its incredible amount of early cable programming thanks to “time-zone issues.”

-Doc’s dialogue is frequently priceless, and it may be mere speculation, but it does seem like Pynchon enjoyed The Big Lebowski — or maybe both works just capture that stoner cadence and vocabulary perfectly.  Innumerable one-liners and PI quips to choose from.  One of my favorites on p. 313: “You know how some people say they have a ‘gut feeling’?  Well, Shasta Fay, what I have is dick feelings, and my dick feeling sez —”

-Doc’s parents getting hooked on dope and getting freaked out by Another World, p. 352-53.