paul beatty.

Must admit I haven't read U.S.A., but sounds like it must be quite different from the earlier MANHATTAN TRANSFER which is not zanily Pynchonesque at all.

USA isn't zany in the slightest but it is Pynchonian in the way it scatters its characters across the world and leaves them at the mercy of historical forces. Obviously the Pynchon novels that go hardest on this (especially Against The Day) are more likely to be channeling Dos Passos than the other way round.

FWIW I don't find The Sellout Pynchonian either but they both share a love for a sort of screwball comedy caper that precedes both of them.