Thomas Pynchon is a celebrated and famously private American author. As such, his biography is deliberately vague. Born on May 8th, 1937, in Glen Cove, New York, Pynchon graduated from Cornell University, where he took classes taught by renowned author Vladimir Nabokov. His early novels, including V. (1963) and The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), quickly established him as a significant voice in postmodern literature.

His next novel, Gravity's Rainbow, was an ambitious, sprawling narrative set during and immediately after the final months of World War II, weaving together numerous characters and a complicated array of references to science, mathematics, history, and pop culture in complex prose. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1974 and has been the subject of extensive critical analysis. Despite the acclaim, Pynchon maintained a low public profile, avoiding interviews and public appearances.

After the publication of Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon entered a prolonged period of silence, both in terms of public engagement and new work. This hiatus lasted 17 years until the release of Vineland in 1990. When Vineland finally emerged in 1990, it marked a departure from the grand, historical scope of Gravity's Rainbow, instead focusing on contemporary America.