Just in from Anderson Valley

[David Jordan]

Well, not *just* in from Anderson Valley, heh, heh, I'm looking at the
issue of December 13, you see it can take a while for the _Advertiser_ to
get to my local bookstore, and not actually *from* Anderson Valley, but
*through* it, comes the following: 

    Thomas Pynchon (attributed).  "The letters of Wanda Tinasky to
    the Anderson Valley Advertiser."  Edited by T.R. Factor, Bruce
    Anderson.

    If not blocked by Pynchon's lawyers, this should be the literary
    coup of the season.  In the mid to late 1980s, a frequent
    contributor to the letters pages of the Anderson Valley
    Advertiser of Boonville, California, was one "Wanda Tinasky," an
    exiled White Russian turned bag lady who wrote wonderfully
    sarcastic and erudite letters about the political and cultural
    life of Mendocino County.  That happens to be the setting of
    Pynchon's 1990 novel "Vineland" and it is know that Pynchon lived
    in the area while writing the book.  The typewritten originals of
    the letters have been verified by Pynchon experts as being
    similar to other holographic writings of his, and the letters
    themselves are certainly consistent with his style and tone,
    especially that of "Vineland":  complex but colloquial, breezily
    erudite about matters of culture high and low, strongly
    leftist/populist, and very witty.  (Other letters under other
    pseudonyms that may have been Pynchon's also appear here.)  After
    "Vineland" was published, speculation began that Pynchon and
    Tinasky were the same, and he wrote a few final letters under a
    different pseudonym that seem to confirm this.  For Pynchon
    scholars, "The Letters of Wanda Tinasky" is a tantalizing
    document, one that should keep them busy and entertained for
    years.

         --Steven Moore, Senior Editor of the "Review of Contemporary
                Fiction"

I'm told by a person in the book trade that the funny thing about the 
_Letters_ is that TRP's lawyers can only block publication if the editors 
attribute them to to TRP; if they don't then there's nothing the lawyers 
can do.

I spoke with someone at _AVA_ a couple days ago who said that the editing 
work on _The Letters_ is mostly done and that they are marketing it to 
small publishing houses.  If anyone wishes to be informed of imminent 
publication you should give your name and address to _AVA_ at (707) 
895-3016 and _AVA_ will send you a postcard at the appropriate time.

David Jordan
littlcat at netcom.com