The Book

[Mike Beiderbecke]

    Many moons ago, when I graduated from high school, a friend & I were
going to Mexico for a month. I needed a book. Wandering thru a Walgreens
looking for insect repellant, I passed the book section, and there it was.
The paperback edition in the #7 slot of the best-seller section (yes, it did
make the best-seller list in paperback). 887 pages with small type.
Perfecto. Who cared what it was about. It was huge. Fortunately it was also
a great book. It became my constant traveling companion, and accompanied me
through 100,000 hitch-hiking miles. Still have it. Duct taped together,
stained, well worn, and still taken on trips. 
    From this inauspicious beginning, an affair that continues to this day
started. To date, the TRP collection has 5 hardcover 1st printings, six
pamphlets, all the issues of Pynchon Notes, a couple copies of the NYTBR,
and 35 books of Lit Crit. 
    Still don't get it, but neither does anybody else.

                           Regards,
                                       
                                        Mike