What to do until tomorrow?

[Ken Jones]

>Here in Orblando, cultural capital of extreme central Central Florida,
>We Await Silent TRP's Exegesis.   My local B&N has followed Holt's rules
>and will not sell before Wednesday; they won't even admit to having any
>copies.  It's been tricky managing my reading because I wanted to make
>sure that there was no unfinished business interfering with M&D but I
>couldn't take the chance that I would have time on my hands and nothing
>to read.  I solved the problem by buying a couple of potboilers that
>could be consumed in an hour or two.  How are the rest of you filling
>the void prior to publication?

I have been filling my void by calling every bookstore in town. A few have
copies in stock, but refuse to sell before tomorrow. The good news is that
all this mindless persistence has apparently paid off. I've just put a copy
on hold at a wonderful independent shop in town (no names in case this list
is monitored by Henry Holt). I am on my way. (Of course, just my luck. I'll
get there and find they've mistakenly reserved a copy of Lineland.)

To celebrate, my first contribution to the M&D discussion. The reviews
reveal that the novel is narrated by one Rev. Wicks Cherrycoke. I mentioned
this in private conversation ("private" except for the fact Jules Siegel was
there taking notes) to Penny Padgett (who received her advance copy of M&D
last Saturday). Penny referred me to Tim Ware's online GR concordance to
look up Wicks' illustrious descendant Ronald.

Ronald Cherrycoke -- "the noted psychometrist" and colleague of Roger Mexico
at "The White Visitation" -- appears in GR on pages 146, 149, 150, and 639.
So what's the connection between the two Cherrycokes (Cherrycoke and
Cherrycoke Classic)? Here's an ignorant stab at it from someone who doesn't
even have a copy of the new book yet. Ronald, "a normal-looking lad, perhaps
a bit overweight" with a "lathe-humming Midland accent," can channel a
person's thoughts through physical contact with their personal effects. As
M&D narrator, the "rubicund and sprightly" Rev. Wicks "channels" a 773-page
tale of his one-time acquaintances Mason and Dixon. And, as Pynchon writes
of Ronald, "it's a dangerous game Cherrycoke's playing here. Often he thinks
the sheer volume of information pouring in through his fingers will
saturate, burn him out . . . " This could apply equally to the narrator of
M&D as to its author.


Ken Jones
Samsara, Inc.