Pynchon Wiki: Inherent Vice

Welcome to the Inherent Vice Wiki!


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  • Check out Inherent Vice Diagrammed, a visual guide to Pynchon’s 2009 detective novel. This free resource helps readers keep track of the Inherent Vice’s 130 characters, the plots, and the action. It offers a unique approach to visualizing complexity in fiction. Detailed character-relationship diagrams form the heart of the website, and help readers see — and keep track of — the big picture.
  • Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" — described as a "dark crime comedy" — opened December 12, 2014 in selected cities; general release on January 9, 2015. Read more...

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This is the Wiki for Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice. Besides using the Alphabetical Index and the page-by-page annotation, you can also take a look at Inherent Vice covers, read the reviews, or entertain some theories on the source of the title.

Pynchon Narrates Inherent Vice Promotional Video

Can flying pigs be far behind?

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Penguin Press confirms that the video is narrated by Pynchon. Source

Read &#151; and participate in &#151; a discussion of this video »

How to Use this Wiki

There are two major ways to use this wiki. The first is the Inherent Vice Alphabetical Index, used to keep track of the myriad characters, real and imagined, as well as events, arcana, and lots of other stuff. The second is the Spoiler-Free Annotations by Page, which allows the reader to look up and contribute allusions and references while reading the book, in a convenient and spoiler-free manner.

Apart from those, it's up to you.

Alphabetical Index

Information on the characters, events, and everything else in Inherent Vice, organized alphabetically:

Inherent Vice Alpha Guide
A·B·C·D·E·F·G·H·I·J·K·L·M·N·O·P·Q·R·S·T·U·V·W·XYZ TOP↑


Page by Page Annotations

Chapter 1
pp. 1-18 		Chapter 2
pp. 19-45 		Chapter 3
pp. 46-49 		Chapter 4
pp. 50-54 		Chapter 5
pp. 55-67
Chapter 6
pp. 68-88 		Chapter 7
pp. 89-110 		Chapter 8
pp. 111-123 		Chapter 9
pp. 124-153 		Chapter 10
pp. 154-162
Chapter 11
pp. 163-185 		Chapter 12
pp. 186-206 		Chapter 13
pp. 207-234 		Chapter 14
pp. 235-255 		Chapter 15
pp. 256-274
Chapter 16
pp. 275-295 		Chapter 17
pp. 296-314 		Chapter 18
pp. 315-342 		Chapter 19
pp. 343-350 		Chapter 20
pp. 351-363
Chapter 21
pp. 364-369

Pynchon Wiki Help and Contributor Guidelines

Click here for help with editing and creating pages.

We have a few conventions we ask that you follow:

  • When creating a new page, if its information pertains to one (and only one) specific Pynchon novel, please categorize it with the appropriate identifier. For example, a page pertaining to Inherent Vice, should use the syntax [[Category:IV]].
  • To open a discussion on an individual listing of the Alpha Index, create one using the entry on Peter Tait as an example. Basically, give it a name that identifies the alpha listing (eg [[Name Discussion|DISCUSSION]]) and notice that the visible name will be "DISCUSSION" in full caps, so it stands out a bit.

External Links

Shipwreck Library: Inherent Vice

Featured Articles

Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice Described As The Big Lebowski Meets The Long Goodbye
This April 15, 2014 update on Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Inherent Vice really whets the appetite! The Big Lebowski meets The Long Goodbye... What's not to like?
Audience member of an early screening: "Mix together The Big Lebowski and Altman‘s The Long Goodbye, turn it into a two-and-a-half hour PT Anderson epic and you’re getting close to the awesome experience of Inherent Vice. Even Joaquin Phoenix‘s performance has echoes of 70′s Elliot Gould with a touch of The Dude. But don’t get me wrong, this film is its own animal. A drug-fueled detective story filled with great psychedelic music and beautiful, grainy cinematography, it’s both hilarious and confounding at times. But Anderson does an incredible job of making the incredibly complex plot both comprehensible and entertaining. Even though he’s apparently said he’s still tinkering, it felt like a finished film and will definitely go down as one of my favorites of his."

Read the article...

"Call It Capitalism" by Thomas Jones, for the London Review of Books, is a thoughtful, knowledgeable and insightful review of Inherent Vice, linking it to Pynchon's themes from The Crying of Lot 49 to Mason & Dixon. A must read! Read the review...

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Thanks, and enjoy...