Siegel's promo

[Tim Windsor]

My sincere apologies if this has already hit the list ( I check my mail
from work and home, thus my scan of the existing messages is only 50%
reliable), but here's Jules' promo of his book to the Journalism list

Date:         Tue, 29 Apr 1997 19:18:09 -0500
Reply-To: General Journalism Discussion <SPJ-L at psuvm.psu.edu>
Sender: General Journalism Discussion <SPJ-L at psuvm.psu.edu>
From: Jules Siegel <jsiegel at MAIL.CARIBE.NET.MX>
Subject:      My e-mail-inspired book riles Pynchon fans
To: SPJ-L at psuvm.psu.edu

A bit of shameless self-promotion here, gang.

The big roll-out for my e-mail-inspired epic, "Lineland: Mortality and Mercy
on the Internet's Pynchon-L at Waste.Org Discussion List" by Jules Siegel,
Christine Wexler, et al, began with a story on Wired News that got most of
the facts wrong, but the idea mostly right. You can look at this at:

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/story/3431.html

I don't think I'm handling fame very well. The reporter, Janelle Brown,
interviewed me by phone for more than an hour. When I told my beautiful
bride, Anita Brown (no relation), that Janelle had a sexier voice than
Marilyn Monroe, she pointed to a well-muscled, bare-chested young fellow out
on the Cancun Golf Course and said, "Now there's a guy I could really go for."

Janelle identifed my ex-wife and co-author, Christine Wexler, as my wife.
We'll probably work this out, but it did get a bit sticky when Anita saw
this obvious Freudian slip. It doesn't matter that it was Janelle's slip,
not mine, because it's better not to mention anything attached to her name
that might be construed as female underwear right now.

The fact that I was later also interviewed by the Times of London is being
taken into consideration. Any major features and reviews you might wish to
write to help provoke a movie sale will surely create an atmosphere leading
to the restoration of full diplomatic relations.

Since I know that you will all be rushing to your keyboards, following is a
press release with the correct data. Obtain your advance galley by
contacting Barbara Wray <bwray at iam.com> 610 853 4406.

INTERNET BOOK, PICTURE FILL SOME HOLES
IN THOMAS PYNCHON'S SCANTY BIOGRAPHY

Philadelphia, Pa. --A new book based on Internet e-mail discussions contains
exclusive personal glimpses of reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon. Called
"Lineland: Mortality and Mercy on the Internet's Pynchon-L at Waste.Org," it
comes from two people who knew him well -- his college chum Jules Siegel,
and Christine Wexler, the former Mrs. Siegel, whose Sixties affair with the
novelist exploded again on the Internet in late 1996. "Lineland" includes
her never-before published sketch of Pynchon.

"Lineland" appears just in time for Holt's April 30 release of Pynchon's new
novel, "Mason & Dixon" with a 200,00-copy advance printing and TV
advertising. Pynchon never gives interviews. His last published photograph
was taken in Navy boot camp. The new information and portrait will be
welcomed by book reviewers and feature writers, as well as his many readers.

Jules reports, "Pynchon and I had adjacent rooms at Cornell. In March, 1977,
Playboy  published my memoir, 'Who Is Thomas Pynchon...and Why Is He Taking
Off With My Wife?' When I first got on the Internet in August, 1996, I found
a copy on a web page devoted to Pynchon. I inquired about my copyright
notice and began the correspondence that became 'Lineland.'"

"Chrissie then came to Cancun to visit our daughter, Faera. She agreed to go
online too. The Pynchon-L folk interviewed both of us with fascinating
results. They got a little annoyed when she asked if they were a 'bunch of
academic powder butts.' Talk about needing a flame-proof suit!

"If you don't laugh at least once, Dale L. Larson will send Don Rickles to
your home or office for a personal roast. Most other publishers wouldn't
finance such a gesture, but they wouldn't have published 'Lineland' either."

Living in Mexico since 1981, in Cancun since 1983, Jules Siegel is the
author or translator of six other published books. His highly-acclaimed
writings have appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, Rolling Stone,
Esquire and Best American Short Stories, among others. "Lineland" is his
first major work published in the United States since "Why Things Don't
Work" appeared in Playboy, September, 1982.

Lineland: Mortality and Mercy on the Internet's Pynchon-L at Waste.Org
Discussion List
by Jules Siegel, Christine Wexler, et al.

ISBN 1-885876-04-1, Illustrations, 192 pp., 6x9, perfect bound, $11.95, May,
1997
Typography and design by Jules Siegel. Photographs by Jules Siegel and Ron
Thal. Previously unpublished drawings by R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton.

Intangible Assets Manufacturing
828 Ormond Avenue
Drexel Hill, PA  19026-2604

Interviews, Art & Rights: Barbara Wray 610 853 4406, bwray at iam.com
http://www.iam.com/lineland

--
Professional English-Language Editorial Services
Jules Siegel http://www.caribe.net.mx/siegel/jsiegel.htm
>From US: http://www.yucatanweb.com/siegel/jsiegel.htm
Apdo 1764 Cancun Q. Roo 77501 Tel 011-52-98 87-49-18 Fax 87-49-13