I remember reading it while working the night shift at a grocery warehouse. Took me about a month or so and I didn't do much else except eat, sleep, work and read.

_V_ is a little more palatable. And if you haven't read _Crying of Lot 49_ I would recommend that too altho Pynchon more or less disowns it- it's a great Pynchon Primer.

As for the Gridcosm- it is perfectly suited to the grab bag of cultural debris and imagery found in those novels.