The Crying of Lot 49 follows Oedipa Maas, a disgruntled housewife living in the fictional Northern California suburb of Kinneret-Among-The-Pines, as she traces the footsteps of her deceased ex-boyfriend Pierce Inverarity and begins to uncover a vast conspiracy of renegade mail-carriers called Tristero. At the beginning of the novel, Oedipa receives a letter from Inverarity’s lawyer, Metzger, who explains that Inverarity has died and chose Oedipa to execute his last will and testament. A wealthy businessman who practically owned the sprawling, soulless Los Angeles suburb of San Narciso, Inverarity has left behind a gigantic estate of investments and real estate holdings. Oedipa is baffled: she last heard from Pierce a year ago, when he briefly called, greeted her in several absurd accents, and then hung up.
Oedipa’s husband Wendell “Mucho” Maas comes home and starts complaining about his job as a DJ at the KCUF radio station. Annoyed, Oedipa remembers that Mucho hated his old job as a used car salesman even more. In the middle of the night, Oedipa gets a call from her therapist, Dr. Hilarius, who asks her to take psychedelic drugs as part of an experiment. (She refuses.) In the morning, Oedipa’s lawyer, Roseman, advises her about the will. Oedipa reflects on how isolated she feels in her stagnant marriage and boring suburban life. She feels like Rapunzel, trapped in a tower, unable to escape.
