Coupla cents...

[Geof Starr]

Matthew Percy posits:
> It was Esquire, actually.  And just to open a whole other can-o-worms,
> at  least Pynchon's recent forays into journalism haven't been as
> embarassing as his supposed heir apparent, David Foster Wallace (anybody
> read his inane  articles on Tennis! in Esquire or "Why I think David
> Lynch is -huhuh-  cool" in Premiere?)

As I confessed a while back, I'm still struggling with the whole DFW thing.
First off, as far as the "heir apparent" label that is readily bandied about by
the press as precarious on the part of marketing departments and lazy on the
part of journalists and critics. But there's nothing new there. 

As far as Wallace's forays into periodical features: I have to admit that I
found the Esquire tennis piece rather compelling -- I'm not a sports buff and
less so toward tennis, yet the piece piqued, held, and actually rewarded my
interest. On the other hand, in spite of the fact that a repress an acute
fascination with David Lynch, Wallace's Premiere piece was so dis-engaging that
I couldn't finish it. Back to (but not beyond) the zero.

Meanwhile, Tod Mahony shrugs:
> I'm apparently the only person on the list who ever heard of Lotion
> before Pynchon did them the favor of writing liner notes.  I'm also
> apparently the only person on the list who likes the band.

For the record, Tod, you're not entirely alone. I came across Lotion right
around their second album and have been following them obliquely since. They
don't entirely fit into my Venn diagram of day to day listening of late, but I'd
still give 'em the thumbs up. After all the Thurston Moore experiments, I
thought it not unprecedented but at least unexpected that TP would show up
associated with the Nobody's Cool kids.