Bleeding Edge

Hardcover, 477 pages

English language

Published Nov. 7, 2013 by Penguin Press.

ISBN:
978-1-59420-423-4
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
837179750

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3 stars (16 reviews)

Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet

It is 2001 in New York City, in the lull between the collapse of the dot-com boom and the terrible events of September 11th. Silicon Alley is a ghost town, Web 1.0 is having adolescent angst, Google has yet to IPO, Microsoft is still considered the Evil Empire. There may not be quite as much money around as there was at the height of the tech bubble, but there’s no shortage of swindlers looking to grab a piece of what’s left.

Maxine Tarnow is running a nice little fraud investigation business on the Upper West Side, chasing down different kinds of small-scale con artists. She used to be legally certified but her license got pulled a while back, which has actually turned out to be a blessing because now she can follow her own code of …

7 editions

Bleeding Edge

2 stars

1) "Adult male in a suit, carrying a briefcase, standing in the middle of the sidewalk traffic screaming at his kid, who looks to be about four or five. The volume level grows abusive, 'And if you don't—' the grown-up raising his hand ominously, 'there'll be a consequence.' 'Uh-uh, not today.' Out comes the full auto option again, and presently the screamer is no more, the kid is looking around bewildered, tears still on his little face. The point total in the corner of the screen increments by 500. 'So now he's all alone in the street, big favor you did him.' 'All we have to do—' Fiona clicking on the kid and dragging him to a window labeled Safe Pickup Zone. 'Trustworthy family members,' she explains, 'come and pick them up and buy them pizza and bring them home, and their lives from then on are worry-free.'"

2) …

Review of 'Bleeding Edge' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

bleed·ing edge

noun: bleeding edge; plural noun: bleeding edges

-- the very forefront of technological development.

Before reading this novel, I did not know the meaning of this term, so here it is.

And also, I am still surprised that I've picked up another Thomas Pynchon book...Unfortunately, I started with The Crying of Lot 49, which was a complete mystery to me, though I did laugh out loud at that strip poker scene. Pynchon always makes me laugh at unexpected times.

This time, we (the readers) follow Maxine Tarnow/Loeffler, a fraud examiner, as she looks into the nefarious goings on at a computer security firm called hashslingz, run by a badass named Gabriel Ice.

The colorful characters, clever and funny dialogue, and social commentary make these 400+ pages sparkle. When it comes to the plot, there are many issues that are not resolved. These fascinating scenarios are vehicles that Pynchon …

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Subjects

  • High technology
  • Women private investigators
  • Fiction