Those Pynchon Bootlegs

[Nigel E. Richardson]

I've got printings of "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna" and "Lowlands" as
described, both picked up from a shop just off Charing Cross Road when I
lived in London. I think they're still stashed somewhere in my
parents' attic, so I'll try and dig them out when I go across (like a
dutiful son) for Father's Day tomorrow. I've completely forgotten about
them until you mentioned them. I hope to God they haven't been thrown
away or donated to the local church or something.... They were listed in
the UK Books In Print (or whatever it's called), which is how I discovered
they existed.

I also have an edition of "A Journey into the Mind of Watts" published by
"MOULDWARP, 17 Sth Molton St., Westminster, MCLXXXIII". It's a very odd/
messy booklet, A5 sized, 12pp with card cover, typewriter text (underlining
rather than italics)and messy xerox collages of skulls, cops and maps
- and an extremely strange piece of text tagged on at the end, signed
"Tystero". The booklet has a rather suspect ISBN catalogue code:
0-1080-066-6. Hmmm....

"Entropy" was first reprinted in the UK in Michael Moorcock's NEW WORLDS,
sometime in the late 60s. I also have it in an earlier US anthology called
something like NELSON ALGREN'S BOOK OF MODERN MONSTERS.

On the subject of TP's short stories, in his SF anthology, DANGEROUS VISIONS,
Harlan Ellison mentions that Pynchon was amongst several "mainstream" writers 
he almost got a story from for it. This came out several years after
Pynchon's last short story, THE SECRET INTERGRATION, so does anyone
know anything about it?

BTW, any completists wanting the two excerpts from THE CRYING OF LOT 49 in
Esquire and Cavalier would be recommended to try places that deal in old
men's mags rather than literary places that specialize in first editions
and the like - at the moment neither magazine is very collectable in
the mid 60s so they'll be a couple of pounds or dollars at the very most. 
Of course you'll have to plough through pages of tat like Giggles 'n' Gals
and Fling to find them....  

Nigel E. Richardson
---------------------------------- http://turnpike.net/metro/N/ner/index.html
"Meanwhile, the outposts of the establishment drowse in the bright summery
smog...." - TRP, AJITMOW