More silly pulse

[Duane Spani]

>Hello everyone,

Sorry to bother you again with this silly Pynchon in Pulse bit, but here's a
sloppily edited version of readers' responses to the article from last week.
Kind of ridiculous, sure, but it also seems (sort of) relevant to the list. 

Duane.

P.S. epulse subscription info is at the bottom of the message.

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>>>>> From: "David F. Gallagher" <davidfg at voicenet.com> 
>>> >>> Subject: reclusive authors
>>> 
>>> The world famous Frequently Asked Questions About Mentos file 
>>> makes reference to a Jeanine Garafalo HBO special during which the 
>>> comedienne did an impression of someone watching one of those 
>>> bewildering ads: "Wha....? I don't...is that his mother...What?..."
>>> 
>>> David Bowman's piece on Thomas Pynchon prompted a similar 
>>> response: "Catcher in the Rye? Wha? But... Wait. Catcher? Pynchon? 
>>> Uh, Salinger? I don't.... Is this a joke?"
>>> 
>>> It seems Bowman doesn't get Pynchon. I'm pretty close to getting 
>>> Pynchon, but I don't get Bowman.
>>> 
>>> Wait, isn't this supposed to be a music thing?
>>
>>
>>> >>
>>> From: Ton Maas <tonmaas at xs4all.nl> 
>>> >>> 
>>>> A reader 
>>>> never believes Pynchon can tell Schoenberg from Von Webern,
>>> 
>>> This leads to the question: can the writer of the above quotation tell 
>>> Von Webern from Webern?
>>> 
>>> Ton Maas, Amsterdam NL
>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: Steven.Burrall at ncal.kaiperm.org 
>>> To: pulsemag at netcom.com 
>>> Subject: David Bowman's tin brain
>>> 
>>> Was Von Webern the guy that wrote all those famous overtures? Or 
>>> was that Van Weber?

>>
>>> 
>>> From: Steven Schechter <sschech at sybase.com> 
>>> >>> Subject: Re: 2.19
>>> 
>>> Hey,
>>> 
>>> Okay, I assume that saying that Pynchon ghostwrote lyrics for Dylan is 
>>> a joke, or something of a joke, but the fact that the article credits 
>>> Catcher in the Rye to him twice makes me think that maybe the author 
>>> thinks that Pynchon used "J.D. Salinger" as an alias? I'll bet Salinger 
>>> doesn't think so. (And I'll bet I'm not the only one writing to you on 
>>> this.)
>>> 
>>> Also, I know I'm getting old, and I also know I left a lot of my best 
>>> braincells in the 60s, (not to mention that I left a lot of my records in 
>>> NY when I moved to HK, but that's another story), but what's leftof my 
>>> memory tells me that the Stooges toon is "I Wanna Be Your Dog," not 
>>> "I'm Gonna Be Your God." ???
>>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: Bruce Greeley <72113.2625 at CompuServe.COM> 
>>> >>> Subject: pynchon/salinger
>>> 
>>> pynchon writing 'catcher in the rye' under a pseudonym, eh?! salinger 
>>> not just a recluse but a fiction? and i think someone else wrote 
>>> recognitions too...fire yr editor!
>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: "Brown, Jefferson" <jtbrown at usia.gov> 
>>> >>> Subject: Thomas Pynchon
>>> 
>>> For David Bowman:
>>> 
>>> Thomas Pynchon did not write "Catcher in the Rye" nor "The 
>>> Recognitions"!
>>> 
>>> "Catcher" was written by J.D. Salinger, a legendary recluse much like 
>>> Pynchon, but very much a real person. Pynchon, born in 1937, was 
>>> indeed something of a prodigy but not to the extent your facts would 
>>> suggest: "Catcher" was published in 1951, when Pynchon was just 14 
>>> years old!
>>> 
>>> If I remember right, the name of the author of "The Recognitions" is 
>>> William Gaddis, another author, like Pynchon, who churned out just a 
>>> couple of huge, impenetrable novels that were each many years in the 
>>> making.
>>> 
>>> Otherwise, your comments seem right on. Pynchon's literary 
>>> reputation fades a bit more with each passing year, and more 
>>> interviews like the one you saw will only speed the process.
>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: James Armstrong <proteus at sirius.com> 
>>> >>> Subject: Catcher In the Rye
>>> 
>>> II can't make up my mind whether your debuting columnist, Mr. 
>>> Bowman, considers himself a humorist or a really hotshot critic. 
>>> Whatever the case, if he has somehow discovered that Thomas 
>>> Pynchon is the pseudonymous author of "Cather In the Rye" , he has 
>>> the literary scoop of the century and shouldn't hide this blazing 
>>> illumination under such a wicker firkin as pulsmag. There are times 
>>> when I have just cause to wonder if anyone under 35 has any education 
>>> at all. (I am twice that.) And so if that's a joke, it's harmful. Too
>>> many people accept Von Daniken's "Charrot Of the Gods" as revealed 
>>> truth. Never mind the other books Pyncheon didn't write.
>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: Robin Edgerton <robin at wfmu.org> 
>>> >>> Subject: um
>>> 
>>> poster boy David Bowman failed to mention in his little Pynchon piece 
>>> that P. wrote the liner notes for the excellent _Spiked!_ reissue 
>>> compilation of Spike Jones' work from Catalyst records.
>>> 
>>> if you care.
>>> 
>>>  robin
>>
>>
>>> 
>>> From: John von Seggern <100311.3143 at CompuServe.COM> 
>>> >>> Subject: Catcher in the Rainbow
>>> 
>>> I very much enjoyed 'Catcher in the Rye', as well as 'V', 'The Crying 
>>> of Lot 49', and 'Vineland'. But I was surprised to read David Bowman's 
>>> assertion that Pynchon *is* Salinger. Is this a documented fact?
>>> 
>>> John
>>
>>
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