Pondering Lot 49

[James W. Horton]

On Mon, 17 Apr 1995 Dkipen at aol.com wrote:

> And by the way, in the interest of dropkicking a hornet's nest worth of
> pynchon-l controversy, here's a question for general delectation. Say
> tomorrow you find yourself sharing an elevator, a bus, or a cinema men's room
> with a familiarly tall, bucktoothed gentleman who looks unmistakably 57ish
> going on 58. Big ears, too. What's your icebreaker?????
> David


	Here's the answer: you let your mouth fall open, you point with 
a trembling finger, and say,
	"YOU!  I know you.  You're Thomas Pynchon, aren't you!?"
	"No I'm not, you must be thinking . . ."
	"Yes you are!  It's You!  I'd know you anywhere!"
	"I'm not, I swear. Look if . . ."
	"Hey everybody! Over here! Look! It's Thomas Pynchon the famous
novelist!"

OMNES:  Who?  What? I don't believe it!  It can't be!  Yes, wait, it
	IS him! It's Thomas Pynchon!

then Pynchon (if it is him) makes a dash for it, followed by a crowd of 
people screaming and waving autograph books.  He grabs onto the tailgate
of a passing lorry containing Hungarian circus midgets and is whisked to 
safety.
				jwh