Lineland as Pynchon Authority (redux)

[Jules Siegel]

At 09:05 AM 05/14/97 -0400, "Meg Larson" <mgl at tardis.svsu.edu> wrote,
responding to my comments marked with >>:

>> Is this the Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr., fan club?

>. . . uh, yeah, I guess it is--we're all fans of the Man and His Work.
That's why this the Pynchon-L, and not the Grisham-L.

I thought the list was devoted to the scholarly discussion of his work, pro
and con. If it's a fan club, where are there magic decoder rings and T-shirts?

>>I feel as if I'm forbidden to say anything from the heart about Thomas
Pynchon's work because I'm not ready to nominate him for the Nobel Prize and
have some frankly negative observations about his material and techniques.

>It's not so much what you say, Jules, it's the tone we resent.

Then how am I supposed to feel about outright personal insults such as
[repeat list from previous messages, beginning with "parasite," this time
and going back around to "wannabe writer"]. 

>You almost accuse us of going to the extreme in our devotion, yet you seem
ben on going to the other extreme in your criticism of him, and us. This
ain't the Pynchon-Bashing List. 

Please be specific. I've commented on Pynchon's work maybe twice in April
and May. What did I say that constitutes criticism, much less going to extremes?

>I think that Jules' tone, again, and his relentless defense of himself and
his book have led the list to this point.  And while I don't defend his
tone, I think some of the flames were unwarranted.  However, you get what
you ask for.

The flames began when I wasn't even on the list. I didn't ask for them. I
published a book which was then flamed by people who weren't in it, hadn't
read it and for the most part weren't even around when the encounter took
place from which it grew. If I'm being relentless attacked, why should I be
less relentless in my own defense?

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