text: Several characters in this novel are engaged in a lawsuit over a scheme in which the bones of American soldiers recovered from Lago di Pieta were used to make special charcoal.
full_question: Several characters in this novel are engaged in a lawsuit over a scheme in which the bones of American soldiers recovered from Lago di Pieta were used to make special charcoal. A society dedicated to a Confederate captain who clashed with the Russian Navy, Peter Pinguid, is revealed to this novel's protagonist at a bar called The Scope by Mike Fallopian. The protagonist attends a production of Richard (*) Wharfinger's play The Courier's Tragedy in this novel, in which a recurring muted post-horn symbol points to the existence of an underground postal service called Trystero. Its protagonist travels to San Narciso after being named executor of Pierce Inverarity's estate. For 10 points, name this postmodern tale about Oedipa Maas, the shortest novel by Thomas Pynchon.
first_sentence: Several characters in this novel are engaged in a lawsuit over a scheme in which the bones of American soldiers recovered from Lago di Pieta were used to make special charcoal.
raw_answer: The Crying of Lot 49 