the Big Pun

[Christopher Tassava]

No, no, no!  Pynchon's big pun is to be found on page 591 of the Penguin 
edition (turn there now, please).  He spends - and we do not mind his 
spending - eleven pages detailing the cessation of Lyle Bland (he of the 
Slothrop vending), and at the very end of the chapter, in his parodic 
speech to his family, Lyle alludes to his family's being taken care of 
(post-dissolution).  The Bland fambly's finances are, of course, being 
overseen by the law firm of (drumroll puhleeze) Saliteri, Poore, Nash, De 
Brutus, and Short.  Which is not only Hobbes' description of 
pre-cultural life, but also life in the Zone.
 
-- 
Xferen

"Important to keep going, obliterate the sure thing
and come upon a moment of stealthy blessing."

Don DeLillo