The Crying of Lot 49 Summary

Living in Kinneret, California, Oedipa Maas, a youthful married woman, is informed by a law firm letter that she's been chosen as the executor of her late ex-lover, Pierce Inverarity's estate. To fulfill her role, she travels to San Narciso, Pierce's hometown, and meets Metzger, the assigned attorney. Amidst their duties, they engage in a spontaneous romantic liaison. As Oedipa navigates through Pierce’s complex financial affairs, she learns of his vast stamp collection. A visit to a local watering hole introduces her to Mike Fallopian, a fervent rightist from Peter Pinguid Society, and a curious symbol representing a muted post horn, accompanied by the term W.A.S.T.E and the name "Kirby."

Exploring further, Oedipa and Metzger journey to Fangoso Lagoons, a landmass owned by Pierce. They encounter Manny di Presso, a legal practitioner suing Pierce's estate over the payment for human bones sold by his client. The bones were meant for the production of charcoal cigarette filters. Strikingly, Oedipa gets alerted that Manny's narrative bears similarities to a 17th-century drama, The Courier's Tragedy. Intrigued by the play, especially by the word "Tristero," she seeks enlightenment from the play's director, Randolph Driblette, who simply dismisses her curiosity. Despite this, Oedipa decides to dig deeper, leading her to the peculiar muted post horn symbol again, this time in the office of Stanley Koteks from the Inverarity-affiliated Yoyodyne company. Koteks introduces her to a scientist, John Nefastis, and his perpetually moving machine that seemingly violates the laws of physics.

Oedipa's attempts to unravel the mystery behind The Courier's Tragedy lead her to an anthology of Jacobean revenge dramas and a meeting with the anthology's publisher. During her journey, she continually encounters the muted post horn symbol, even in the watermark of some of Pierce's stamps, as revealed by a philatelist, Genghis Cohen. A visit to Berkeley for a meeting with Nefastis ends in a distressing proposition and a lengthy night of wandering, during which she continually spots the muted post horn symbol, making her question her sanity. After an unsettling encounter with her paranoid, delusional doctor and her LSD-addicted husband, Mucho, she consults with Emory Bortz, a Jacobean revenge drama expert, to learn more about the Tristero. As the mysteries surrounding Pierce's estate and the Tristero continue to intertwine, she begins to suspect a massive hoax. The novel concludes with Oedipa attending an auction where Pierce's stamp collection is being sold as Lot 49, anxiously awaiting the appearance of a mysterious bidder who might hold the key to the whole puzzle.