( | )  Having dipped his toes into the genres of historical
fiction and Jules Verne-style fantasy and science fiction
("Mason & Dixon" and "Against the Day," respectively), it seems
fitting that Thomas Pynchon pay homage to the genres of mystery
and crime fiction with "Inherent Vice," his latest novel.  This
is especially true since "Vice" is part of a literary triptych,
begun with "The Crying of Lot 49" and continued with "Vineland,"
that maps the contours and angles and bizarre recesses of 1960s
California.  As Pynchon writes early on in "Inherent Vice," "On
certain days, driving into Santa Monica was like having
hallucinations without going to all the trouble of acquiring and
then taking a particular drug. . .  ( | )  Touted as his most
accessible book (anything following on the heels of the surreal
"V" and "Gravity's Rainbow" might seem more accessible),
"Inherent Vice" is a mix of "The Big Lebowski," the noirish
novels of Ross MacDonald and/or Raymond Chandler and a whole lot
of kitchen-sink, pop culture