Inherent vice (library and archival science)

Inherent vice is the tendency in physical objects to deteriorate because of the fundamental instability of the components of which they are made, as opposed to deterioration caused by external forces. All objects have some kind of inherent vice as a result of the baseline law of entropy.

Preservation issues

The term is broadly used in archival practice to recognize the material constraints of preservation activities. For example, many kinds of paper have acid in them that makes them chemically unstable. Over time, the acid will eat away the text on the page and cause paper to turn yellow or brown and become brittle. As the acid continues to break down the cellulose fibers, the paper disintegrates. In the world of philately, the adhesive on the back of stamps is both an inherent vice—any exposure to moisture will compromise their ability to be preserved—as well as the purpose for which the stamps were made. In the case of film, an example of inherent vice is the innate chemical instability of cellulose acetate film, which can result in the degradation known as "vinegar syndrome" due to the distinctive vinegar odor it produces.

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice is a novel by Thomas Pynchon, originally published in August 2009.

Title

The term "inherent vice" refers to a property of or defect in a physical object that causes it to deteriorate due to the fundamental instability of its components. In the legal sense, inherent vice may make an item an unacceptable risk to a carrier or insurer. If the characteristic or defect is not visible, and if the carrier or the insurer has not been warned of it, neither of them may be liable for any claim arising solely out of the inherent vice.

The phrase "inherent vice" appears often in William Gaddis' 1955 novel The Recognitions, a novel that influenced American post-modern literature. In Gaddis' novel, the term refers to defects in a work of art. It also appears in another of Pynchon's novels, Mason & Dixon.

Plot summary

The setting is Los Angeles in 1970; the arrest and trial of the Manson Family is featured throughout the novel as a current event. Larry "Doc" Sportello, private investigator and "pothead", receives a visit from his former girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth, now having an affair with the real-estate mogul Michael Z. "Mickey" Wolfmann. Shasta asks Doc to help foil a plot allegedly hatched by Mickey's wife Sloane and her lover, Riggs Warbling, to have Mickey admitted to a mental health institution. Soon afterwards a black militant named Tariq Khalil asks Doc to find Glen Charlock, one of Mickey's bodyguards—Tariq claims that Glen owes him money after their time spent together in prison.

Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970) — also known as P.T. Anderson — is an American filmmaker. Interested in film-making at a young age, Anderson was encouraged by his father Ernie Anderson (a disc jockey, and television and radio announcer/voiceover artist) to become a filmmaker. Anderson is a distinctive filmmaker of his generation, praised as a wunderkind after the release of the dramas Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

In 1993, he wrote and directed a short film titled Cigarettes & Coffee on a budget of $20,000. After he attended the Sundance Institute, Anderson had a deal with Rysher Entertainment to direct his first feature film, a neo-noir crime thriller entitled Hard Eight, in 1996. Anderson received critical and commercial success for his film Boogie Nights (1997), set during the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s and 1980s. His third feature, Magnolia (1999), received wide acclaim despite struggling at the box office.

In 2002, the romantic comedy-drama Punch-Drunk Love, Anderson's fourth feature, was released to positive reviews. After a five-year absence, the epic drama There Will Be Blood was released to critical acclaim in 2007. It is Anderson's highest-grossing film to date and is considered by some critics to be one of the most important films of the 21st century. In 2012, Anderson's sixth film, the drama The Master, was released to critical acclaim. His seventh film, the crime comedy-drama Inherent Vice, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon, was released in 2014, to general acclaim. Anderson has been nominated for six Academy Awards over the course of his career.

Thomas Anderson

Thomas Anderson may refer to:

Association football

Law and politics

Military

Paul Thomas

Paul Thomas may refer to:

See also