A puzzler from BusinessWeek

[Teen Age Riot]

At 09:14 AM 1/23/96 -0800, Penny Padgett wrote:

>Huh?  You reckon reviewer John W. Verity has confused GR with, say,
>_Snow Crash_ or that repellent novel about the mass murderer with
>the penchant for designer menswear?  Paranoia, sure, but *brand names*?
>Moxie is about the only brand name I can recall from GR.

On one hand, having read excerpts from the Mitnick book, and knowing some of
the details of the case, I agree with you in that the reviewer's way off.
Does sound Snow Crash-y instead.  However, I'd consider brand names one of
the trademarks of Pynchon's prose, one more indication of his seemingly
endless knowledge of, and obsession with, pop culture. Sure, lots of the
products named in GR aren't familiar to me, but I'm assuming that they were
household in the forties.  The GR Companion cleared up a lot of these for me. 

 I know I'm being vague, but I don't have a copy of any Pynchon handy right
now, so mebbe I'll try and dig up examples later.

Al

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