Pynchon on the 'autobiographycity' of fiction

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

 "Somewhere I had come up with the notion that one's personal life had nothing  
  to do with fiction, when the truth, as everyone knows, is nearly the direct   
  opposite" (SL-intro, p. 23).

  I can imagine GR to be autobiographical in many aspects. The science & the   
  engineering might be grounded in P's academic & Boeing experiences. The   
  framing of the war, like Doug has suggested,  might be related to P's     
  observation of the Vietnam war & its medial representation. The military     
  stuff to his Navy experience. The love story of Roger & Jessica might be   
  Pynchon's own with somebody in Mexico. The "Counterforce" refers to the social 
  movements of the 60s & early 70s. All that drugged conversation is maybe    
  taken from Mr. P's partygoing. Etc. pp.

  But our man wants to have his privacy! I respect & admire his strategy of     
  withdrawal. And people like Siegel, who cook their soup on Pynchon's 
  biography, are spreading Emotional Plague. So I prefer to talk about the text.

  Kai F. Lorentzen