Fearing for her sanity, Oedipa makes an impromptu visit to Dr. Hilarius, only to find him having lost his own mind, firing a gun randomly and raving madly about his days as a Nazi medical intern at Buchenwald. She helps the police subdue him, only to return home to find that her husband Mucho has lost his mind in his own way, having become addicted to LSD. Oedipa consults an English professor about The Courier's Tragedy, learns that Randolph Driblette has mysteriously committed suicide, and is left pondering whether Trystero is simply a prolonged hallucination, a historical plot, or an elaborate practical joke that Inverarity arranged for her before his death. Oedipa goes to an auction of Inverarity's possessions and waits on the bidding of lot 49, which contains the stamps which are thought to refer to Trystero. Having learned that a particular bidder is interested in the stamps, she hopes to discover if this person is a representative of the Trystero secret society. Finally, at the novel’s end, with Oedipa starting to fear that the whole show has been set-up by Pierce as some sort of beyond the grave joke gone wrong, Oedipa declares to Genghis Cohen that “it may be a practical joke for you, but is stopped being one for me a few hours ago. I got drunk and went driving on these freeways. Next time I might be more deliberate.”

Hardly about Pierce Inverarity, or herself; but about what remained yet had somehow, before this, stayed away." Appel, Alfred Jr. Interview, published in Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature 8, No. 2 (spring 1967). Reprinted in Strong Opinions (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973). Every question the reader asks of Lot 49 is also asked by our avatar, the – as she puts it – executrix of Pierce Inverarity’s will, Mrs Oedipa Mass. From the off it is made clear that our lead is a novice, someone who “didn’t know how to tell the law firm in LA that she didn’t know where to begin.” To list the number of occasions in which Oedipa Mass is confused, perplexed, baffled or otherwise thrown by the plot and the world around her would come close to repeating the novel verbatim in a citation which would not so much plagiarise the text as pirate it. It’s almost as if these companies are early proof that the medium is more important than the message.Stanley Koteks – An employee of Yoyodyne Corporation who knows something about the Trystero. Oedipa meets him when she wanders into his office while touring the plant.

Mike Fallopian is involved in an anti-government organization. He claims to be part of a secret underground mail operation that rivals the postal service. Fallopian suggests that Pierce might have sent Oedipa on a wild goose chase as his final prank. John Ruskin has said “all books are divisible into two classes: the books of the hour and the books of all time.” Yet The Crying of Lot 49 occupies a strange third space: novels that are timely yet timeless—books that are so suffused with the cultural minutia and noise of a moment that their saturation itself helps them to endure. Grimstad, Paul C. (Summer 2004). " 'Creative Distortion' in Count Zero and Nova Express". Journal of Modern Literature. 27 (4). In the sixth book 'The Ersatz Elevator' of The Series of Unfortunate Events, Lot 49 of the auction featured a collection of rare stamps, referencing Pynchon's novel. [25] [ circular reference]Even if you think you got it, there is no guarantee that your understanding reflects what Pynchon intended (behind the scenes).