more slow learner intro

[Doug Millison]

 kevin at limits.org
[...]I also get the impression that _SL_ was published somewhat
begrudgingly.  Maybe he needed the money. [...]


Here's my view:  At the time of SL's publication, Pynchon's novels were
already what book publishers call "perennial back list bestsellers" --
constantly in print, translated and published in many foreign languages and
markets, assigned on college course reading lists around the world, etc.,
and there's every reason to believe that Pynchon is enjoying book advances,
licensing fees, and royalty streams that put him far from the starving
artist category. I have heard rumblings that P may have been tired of having
his short stories bootlegged in unauthorized editions -- I don't know for
sure that's accurate, however, and wanted to get them out in book form.
That a market existed for a collection of his early stories seems evident
from the publisher's willingness to commit the resources necessary to
publish the collection.  By this time, too, a small library of books and
articles had been published about Pynchon's works, a generally warm and
enthusiastic critical reception. I see in this intro a Pynchon who sees,
perhaps, how far he's managed to develop his art since the early years and
works, basking in the limelight of a glowing international reputation, yet
seeking to come across as human, with the disarming ability to poke fun at
himself even as he underscores the seriousness of his efforts to date, and
doing it with the same complex use of irony which makes it difficult to know
what, precisely, he's affirming and where he might be pulling our leg.  He's
playing with his readers, having some serious fun.