Other editions of book V.

'V.'' by Thomas Pynchon. NY: J. B. Lippincott Company: 1963. First edition. First state dustjacket. Classic American novel chronicling the whimsical quest of Benny Profane and Herbert Stencil for the mysterious, elusive V, a woman who surfaces in various guises at crucial moments of late-19th century history. Solid, tight copy of Pynchon's Faulkner Foundation Award-winning first novel.

First edition (1963) of what many consider to be the finest American novel of the 20th century. The wild, macabre tale of two men -- one looking for something he has lost, the other with nothing much to lose -- and "V.," the unknown woman of the title. From the "Noiseless Chatter" blog: "This edition of V. contains different text from all later printings. The reason is that Pynchon changed his mind about a few things after it went to the printer. It's not uncommon for spelling or formatting errors to be corrected in later printings, but in this case they were actually rewritten passages. Oddly, this unique text wasn't discovered until just a few years ago, when Pynchon's novels were being prepared for release as ebooks. Due to the rarity of first edition copies, and the fact that nobody expected anything different there, decades worth of scholarship missed the fact that the V. we were reading wasn't V. as it was originally published." 492 pages. (Note: This book was published before 1973 so it has no ISBN number.)

Amazon Review Having just been released from the Navy, Benny Profane is content to lead a slothful existence with his friends, where the only real ambition is to perfect the art of "schlemihlhood," or being a dupe, and where "responsibility" is a dirty word. Among his pals--called the Whole Sick Crew--is Slab, an artist who can't seem to paint anything other than cheese danishes. But Profane's life changes dramatically when he befriends Stencil, an active ambitious young man with an intriguing mission--to find out the identity of a woman named V., who knew Stencil's father during the war, but who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review "Filled with wild humor, inventive wordplay and a darkly imaginative power." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "This work may well stand as one of the very best works of the century." -- Atlantic Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.