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January 5, 2013 8:39 AM   Subscribe

Happy Thomas Pynchon rumor day! [LAtimes.com] "What's that, you say? America's most reclusive author, Thomas Pynchon, appeared in the news Friday -- not once but twice? Why, yes, yes, he has, surfacing in two unconnected rumours. Conspiracy? Pynchonian? Maybe we should henceforth designate Jan. 4 as Thomas Pynchon Rumor Day."

"Rumor 1: Pynchon has a new novel coming this fall titled "Bleeding Edge."

Rumor 2: Pynchon "may be working" on the film adaptation of his novel "Inherent Vice" with director Paul Thomas Anderson."
posted by Fizz (40 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Regarding Rumor Two, isn't the film adaptation of Inherent Vice called The Big Lebowski?
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:42 AM on January 5, 2013 [6 favorites]


TRP also had dinner with Salman Rushdie, in the 1990s.
posted by chavenet at 8:47 AM on January 5, 2013


The art gallery scene in Beverly Hills Cop was his best film moment.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:00 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Twice in the news in one day! That's like, bilocation, man.
posted by mannequito at 9:05 AM on January 5, 2013 [3 favorites]


Why, yes, yes, he has, surfacing in two unconnected rumours. Conspiracy?

Well that explains why that woman was being attacked by the octopus.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:22 AM on January 5, 2013


Heh, definitely Rustic Etruscan. Definitely has the same vibe...

Just a correction though, Thomas Pynchon would be America's most reclusive living author. I think J.D. Salinger was more reclusive. Of course, that's just for popular authors. Who knows what's out there on the fringe.

So what is it about Pynchon that I like so much?
posted by Eekacat at 9:25 AM on January 5, 2013


we await something that expands on these insubstantial rumours.

(OK, so the Inherent Vice thing isn't a rumour, but the same information has been made into dozens of articles at this point.)
posted by Lorin at 9:27 AM on January 5, 2013


Just a correction though, Thomas Pynchon would be America's most reclusive living author. I think J.D. Salinger was more reclusive. Of course, that's just for popular authors.

Pynchon IS Salinger. Duh.
posted by brundlefly at 9:30 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


We should adapt the Big Lebowski to star famously reclusive writers, Pynchon as The Dude, John Swartenzfielder as Walter, Donna Tartt as Maude......
posted by The Whelk at 9:34 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Thomas Pynchon IS J.D. Salinger IS Philip Roth IS Cormac McCarthy IS Harper Lee IS Tin-foil IS Bill Watterson.

There it's settled now.
posted by Fizz at 9:37 AM on January 5, 2013


Salinger was more reclusive.

I assume this is for most reclusive published author. There are probably plenty of writers who won't even speak to an agent or publisher. Or audience. They may not even leave their homes.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:39 AM on January 5, 2013


I'm not even sure I'd call Thomas Pynchon reclusive, by all accounts he lives in the middle of the densest city in the country and has a fairly normal social life.

He doesn't want to appear on talk shows or be interviewed by reporters. Frankly neither do I, neither do plenty of people! Does that make me reclusive?

Does the simple fact that people want to see him and not me on a talk show change things so much that he becomes a recluse while I'm just normal?
posted by atrazine at 9:43 AM on January 5, 2013 [9 favorites]


Lorin: "we await something that expands on these insubstantial rumours.

I heard Pynchon may admit to doping throughout his writing career.
posted by chavenet at 9:57 AM on January 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


If you've played yourself on the Simpsons, poking fun at your reclusive reputation, you may not be entirely reclusive. Just eccentric.
posted by zsazsa at 9:59 AM on January 5, 2013


Eccentric is awesome. Apparently reclusive isn't...
posted by Eekacat at 10:02 AM on January 5, 2013


I knew a fella who was good friends with someone who Pynchon stayed with in the late 80s. He asked, naturally, "What's Thomas Pynchon like?" And his friend said "He's exactly what you'd expect. He sits in the living room smoking endless joints, peering out the blinds suspiciously, and jumping every time the phone rings ."
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 10:05 AM on January 5, 2013 [16 favorites]


How disappointing. I read this as "Thomas Pynchon Humor Day" and was looking forward to of jokes from Thomas Pynchon.
posted by maryr at 10:08 AM on January 5, 2013


Wonderful thatfuzzybastard, now I have a new role model.
posted by The Whelk at 10:08 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


I heard he goes swimming with Kilgore Trout at the 92nd street Y on alternating Wednesdays.
posted by dr_dank at 10:13 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


I heard he goes swimming with Kilgore Trout at the 92nd street Y on alternating Wednesdays.

No, you're thinking of Pig Bodine.
posted by Fizz at 10:20 AM on January 5, 2013 [6 favorites]


How disappointing. I read this as "Thomas Pynchon Humor Day" and was looking forward to of jokes from Thomas Pynchon.

Thomas Pynchon walks into a bar and orders a beer. Since he's reclusive, no one recognizes him, and he drinks it in peace. The joke continues for a couple hundred more pages, but that's the gist of it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:29 AM on January 5, 2013 [9 favorites]


The article mentions that this is his voiceover for the book trailer of Inherent Vice. I'm surprised there wasn't more buzz about this when it came out. Or maybe there was and I'm just completely out of touch.

In any case, he also manages to sound exactly the way I imagined (or if it was someone else, they sound exactly the way I would have imagined).

Inherent Vice was an entertaining read, I am almost certain that he imposed a rule that *every* single page had to have a drug reference.
posted by jeremias at 10:31 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Thomas Pynchon IS J.D. Salinger IS Philip Roth IS Cormac McCarthy IS Harper Lee IS Tin-foil IS Bill Watterson.

More reclusive than any of them: B. Traven.
posted by beagle at 10:45 AM on January 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Lorin: "we await something that expands on these insubstantial rumours. "
The new book part is stated in the NYT as though it's fact.

There was the distinct implication in the earlier Times Oscar piece that PTA was working in some way with Pynchon, which is fascinating to think of. They really are two of my favorites in their respective fields.

And while Inherent Vice definitely has a Lebowski flavor to it, it's much weirder, more convoluted, and a little darker. And I've said it before, but I still don't know how Robert Downey Jr. can pull off Doc Sportello.
posted by Red Loop at 11:01 AM on January 5, 2013


More reclusive than any of them: B. Traven.

Yeah, nobody's seen that guy in 43 years.
posted by Knappster at 11:01 AM on January 5, 2013


beagle: Thomas Pynchon IS J.D. Salinger IS Philip Roth IS Cormac McCarthy IS Harper Lee IS Tin-foil IS Bill Watterson.

Starring Efram Zimbalist Jr!
posted by dr_dank at 11:16 AM on January 5, 2013


I get why Lebowski is brought up every time the IV adaptation is mentioned, but what I don't get is the idea that the world is anywhere close to having enough stoner detective movies.
posted by Lorin at 11:27 AM on January 5, 2013 [8 favorites]


Has anyone mentioned David Foster Wallace? Usually someone does in threads like this.

Done.
posted by Fizz at 11:39 AM on January 5, 2013


Yeah, this is the entire list and it's not nearly long enough, and some of those don't even qualify.

The top Youtube comment from the Inherent Vice trailer thing:

miguelmoniz1 2 years ago
Man, that Ruggles really tied the room together.
Reply · 75

posted by vogon_poet at 11:48 AM on January 5, 2013


Thomas Pynchon IS J.D. Salinger IS Philip Roth IS Cormac McCarthy IS Harper Lee IS Tin-foil IS Bill Watterson IS Tin-foil IS Harper Lee IS Cormac McCarthy IS Philip Roth IS J.D. Salinger IS Thomas Pynchon."

Reclusive and recursive.
posted by klarck at 11:49 AM on January 5, 2013


Man, that Ruggles really tied the room together.

Ruggles has gotta be the best celebrity middle name this side of Thelonious Monk.
posted by Lorin at 11:51 AM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


“Dream tonight of peacock tails,
Diamond fields and spouter whales.
Ills are many, blessings few,
But dreams tonight will shelter you.

Let the vampire's creaking wing
Hide the stars while banshees sing;
Let the ghouls gorge all night long;
Dreams will keep you safe and strong.

Skeletons with poison teeth,
Risen from the world beneath,
Ogre, troll, and loup-garou,
Bloody wraith who looks like you,

Shadow on the window shade,
Harpies in a midnight raid,
Goblins seeking tender prey,
Dreams will chase them all away.

Dreams are like a magic cloak
Woven by the fairy folk,
Covering from top to toe,
Keeping you from winds and woe.

And should the Angel come this night
To fetch your soul away from light,
Cross yourself, and face the wall:
Dreams will help you not at all.”
― Thomas Pynchon
posted by crushedhope at 12:40 PM on January 5, 2013 [6 favorites]


Thomas Pynchon is James Tiptree, Jr.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 3:20 PM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


By the way if you ever want to be simultaneously demystified about Pynchon and pretty disappointed in some fiction, pick up Slow Learner and read the first few stories he ever published.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:48 PM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


P.T. Anderson is a mismatch. I'd go with the Cohens or Tarantino.
posted by limnrix at 6:26 PM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Source, crushedhope?
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:29 PM on January 5, 2013


Actually Gilliam'd be the ideal Pynchon visual interpreter.
posted by mannequito at 9:10 PM on January 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


P.T. Anderson is a mismatch.

The Dirk Diggler Tries To Sell Fake Cocaine to Alfred Molina scene in Boogie Nights is straight Pynchon.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:40 PM on January 5, 2013


Rustic Etruscan: "Source, crushedhope?"

Page 269 of V.
posted by chavenet at 8:42 AM on January 6, 2013


Bah, and I've read V. Thanks.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:06 AM on January 6, 2013


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