Jules and the CNN pix

[Doug Millison]

The CNN report said that Thomas Pynchon called, not "somebody claiming to
be Thomas Pynchon."

We can guess that he wanted to influence their report once he found out
about it, or that he was part of a publicity ploy from the start, or other
speculation, but I don't think we know enough of the details to say why
Pynchon might have called CNN.

I think it's most likely that the Henry Holt PR machine initially contacted
CNN -- either by personal contact or by a press release; it's possible that
the CNN journalist picked up on the story from the New York magazine
article; it's even possible that the CNN journalist knew something about
Pynchon and came up with the story idea independently.

Imagine the CNN reporter or editor or producer, on the receiving end of a
telephone call from somebody purporting to be Thomas Pynchon. The CNN
journalist knows that Pynchon is a "recluse" (that's the story angle, after
all) and has avoided contact with the press; the journalist would want some
way to verify the identity of the caller -- that verification would most
likely come from the public relations person representing Henry Holt or
Pynchon. It's difficult to imagine that CNN would positively identify the
call as being from Pynchon without some sort of credible verification -- it
would be too easy for Pynchon to issue a statement denying that he made the
call.

 Bruce Appelbaum's post asking "Why does everybody think that TRP is in
seclusion?" offers a welcome dose of reality to this thread.

Cordially,
Doug



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