One of the profs I've had a couple of grad seminars w/ said "Midnight's Children" was one of the most amazing books he's ever read....

re: Pynchon: I thought about picking up Mason and Dixon at B&N a while back b/c it was only 5.98, but the size and reality of my schedule was a little bit too much. I still have "Gravity's Rainbow" yet unfinished. It's probably next on my "to do" list, followed shortly by "Glamorama" and "Being and Nothingness".

is this where i post my moms cream cheese crackers recipe?

Actually, the Satanic Verses, despite the name, is not some sort of Satanist's Bible. It's a work of literature rooted in the Islamic Satan mythos, not the Christian.