Jules and the CNN pix -Reply -Reply

[Tom Gorman]

John: I'm sorry, I just have a hard time believing that CNN would consider
it worth its while to say Pynchon is among the people they showed if
they knew he was not. (And they did say he was in the footage; they
didn't simply suggest or imply it). Furthermore, bestseller or no, it's still
only a small segment of the population that would be seriously engaged
by the prospect of finding out who Pynchon is or what he looks like. At
the risk of tautology, a best-selling book is simply a book that sells more
than other books. But of course most people don't care about books at all
and haven't even heard of TRP. That is, people who buy books constitute
a small segment of the population, those who would buy M&D yet
smaller, those who would actually READ M&D smaller still, and those
who care enough about Pynchoniana to join a listserver infinitesimal. A
LOT more people give a rip about pick-up trucks than literature, and at
any rate the NBC story you referred to has wider implications that touch
on the overall safety standards of a large auto manufacturer. I
sometimes think that we Pynchon fans are too easily wrought into a
conspiratorial froth. Perhaps we should all take a five minute break from
ourselves and enjoy a moist towelette. Thanks for the response.