... an enigma shrouded in a mystery veiled in anonymity. ... you won't see Pynchon hawking his wares on Oprah's book club. You won't find him signing his name for fans down at the corner bookstore. ... He so shuns publicity that he doesn't allow his likeness to be used on book jackets. All known photographs of the man date to the early 1950s. Until Nancy Jo Sales of New York Magazine tracked him down last year, no reporter had interviewed him in four decades.He did, it's true appear in an episode of The Simpsons (and don't you love the paper bag!) :
and he did (remember?) step forward to defend Ian McEwan against that plagiarism charge.
Now, in his closest brush with public life for decades, Pynchon reads in the trailer for his new book Inherent Vice [via Reading Copy]. Enjoy! :
In these days when authors are expected to have a high public profile to publicise their work, I think it's really nice to read about a writer who is able to keep his mystique and let his work talk for him.
2 comments:
He also wrote in support of Rushdie during the Iranian affair. Later, Rushdie and him met.
When I first read Pynchon's novels, I found them difficult and frustrating, but later came to appreciate the intentional difficulty he cultivates. If anything, he's a genius, though I doubt if he will ever win the nobel.
I wonder what he's like in person... It would be really great just to talk to him.
dream on, idiot.
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