Harlan Ellison
Orlowsky at aol.com
Orlowsky at aol.com
Sat Jun 17 19:49:52 CDT 1995
Nigel, et al.:
Ellison was referring to The Secret Integration, not to some as yet
unpublished Pynchon gem. From an interview with Ellison by David Cowart in
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Vol. 5, pp. 172-73:
"I'll tell you something that nobody knows -- that story [the Secret
Integration] was what started Dangerous Visions. I clipped it and saved it.
I loved it. I had no idea who Thomas Pynchon was. I just adored that story.
I thought it was magnificent. And it was the kind of taboo-breaking story
that could not be published many places. I was surprised to find it in a
place as conservative as the Saturday Evening Post. When I got the idea for
Dangerous Visions, it was specifically to anthologize that story and, in
fact, I was going to use it in the first Dangerous Visions. I bought it from
his agent, paid a good price, and at the last moment, I got a letter from Tom
Pynchon saying I must withdraw -- it is not good enough to be in the company
of the other writers who are going to be in that book. Yes, it was staggering
to me, too; I could not plead with him, because there was no return address."
Bob
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