PositivePopMattersThere’s something unusual about Shadow Ticket...a tonal change that at least one critic of note has found frustrating. The book, you see, starts off funny and stays funny for a good while ... Before the reader has time to realize it, Shadow Ticket has undergone a tonal change, replacing much of the comedy and fun with confusing narratives that are all rather…dry ... Rather jarring ... A rather unnerving, mysterious, and even sensitive conclusion saves Shadow Ticket from its own quicksand. Thomas Pynchon is a masterful writer, and his ability to become somber and chilling simultaneously without slipping into sappiness or hyperbole is as effective as it is notable. This new novel of Pynchon’s, should it be his last, showcases that, even when he’s not at his very best, the man can pack an artful wallop.
