PYNCHON IN PULSE

[Duane Spani]

>Hello everyone,

I certainly don't know who this guy is, how he got something so large wedged
deep inside, or how he came to think he was so clever, but this article just
appeared in the on-line version of Pulse Magazine (Tower's rag). Sorry for
forwarding it.

Duane Spani








>>---  RUBBER NECKING
>>>>>  Pynchon's tin ear
>>
>>Thomas Pynchon once lived up to the term legendary. He wrote 'Catcher in 
>>the Rye' under an alias. He also ghostwrote Dylan's pre-motorcycle 
>>accident lyrics. The famous recluse recently surfaced to conduct an 
>>interview with the group Lotion for 'Esquire' magazine. Unfortunately 
>>there's nothing legendary about either the writer's piece or the band.
>>
>>Pynchon neglects to state what Lotion sounds like, which makes his q&a a 
>>waste of time unless you've heard these boys. And Lotion are boys. 
>>Pynchon gleefully reports their food fights. They reveal to him that they 
>>play poorly when they're stoned and they once used the toilet at Sun 
>>Studios. ("Wow! Elvis shit here!" says the deepest member of Lotion.) 
>>Pynchon encourages the guys to prattle about irony -- but no one makes 
>>the obvious ironic leap between the Sun john and the death throne at 
>>Graceland.
>>
>>Since the publication of 'Gravity's Rainbow' in 1973 (Pynchon's fifth 
>>title after 'Catcher in the Rye,' 'The Recognitions,' 'V.,' and 'The 
>>Crying of Lot 49'), hundreds of scholarly works have been published about 
>>the man. In a 1990 Fairleigh Dickinson University title, Prof. Theodore 
>>K. Kharperitans states that Pynchon's work should be considered 
>>"Menippean Satires" -- these being Greek phallic rites that function to 
>>both "delight" and serve "rhetorical ends." Would the good professor view 
>>Pynchon's Lotion interview as a Menippean Satire?
>>
>>Pynchon also contributed the liner notes for Lotion's second record, 
>>'Nobody's Cool.' Alas, with Pynchon's multiple references to 'The Love 
>>Boat' and the Jetsons, it's just another piece of Menippean fluff. In 
>>both the interview and the liner notes, Pynchon mentions "twelve tone 
>>music" and Husker Du -- musical references without conviction. A reader 
>>never believes Pynchon can tell Schoenberg from Von Webern, or Hart from 
>>Mould. Pynchon even goes on about his desire to play the ukulele. Oh, 
>>right. And the most important cultural icon of the 1960s was surely Tiny Tim.
>>
>>Pynchon has a perfect ear: There's no hole in it.
>>
>>Why am I on the guy's case? I'll tell you. I intend to continue rereading 
>>Pynchon's magnificent novel, 'V.,' cover to cover every three years until 
>>I am dead. It's tragic to see a great artist floundering decade after 
>>decade. The light bulb's trip down the toilet in 'Gravity's Rainbow' was 
>>just the start of Pynchon's embracing of trivialness. I'm affronted by 
>>Pynchon's worship of kitsch. I think 'The Love Boat' is evil. I think 
>>Pynchon is evil for worshiping 'The Love Boat.' Thomas Pynchon will show 
>>up at your father's funeral playing with hand puppets of George Jetson 
>>and Elroy. Thomas Pynchon will hold a farting contest in the emergency 
>>room of the hospital where your beloved has just been rushed after being 
>>gunned down in a drive by. Kitsch is psychic Nazi dom while Pynchon 
>>becomes Neville Chamberlain bubbling
>>on about how neat the Munich Pact is.
>>
>>What about Lotion? Are those boys evil as well? Nope. They're just a 
>>second hand Television without one good guitar player, let alone two. 
>>That being said, there is a single song on 'Nobody's Cool,' "Precious 
>>Tiny," that starts with a guitar riff that warbles out of Lotion's 
>>standard retro post new wave blah blah predictability into something 
>>strange. Something different. For one and only one song, Lotion is 
>>actually surprising.
>>
>>No shit! --David Bowman
>>
>> - - -      
>>
>>This is the debut entry by epulse's first monthly columnist, David 
>>Bowman, author of the novel 'Let the Dog Drive' (NYU/Penguin), and best 
>>known to Pulse! readers for his Emmylou Harris cover story late last 
>>year. Rubber Necking will appear on the last Friday of each month. [!]
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