one more RE: is Pynchon a recluse?

[jbor]

Actually, much of Gussow's article reinforces the picture of Pynchon as 
reclusive, or intensely "private" at the very least, and unwilling to speak
to journalists:

    In the first letter, dated March 4, 1963, he makes corrections for the
    British edition of "V," then speaks about dodging two reporters from
    Time magazine.

snip

    Although Pynchon apparently eluded those magazine reporters, he had a
    more difficult time with Dick Schaap, who in 1964 was the city editor of
    The New York Herald Tribune. Schaap was writing an article about Pynchon
    for Book Week, The Tribune's literary supplement. Pynchon was furious,
    assuming that the piece would be "riddled with the same lies, calumnies
    and all-around knavish disregard for my privacy" as previous articles.

    When the Herald Tribune article is printed, Pynchon buys the newspaper
    in Mexico. It makes him "sick, almost homicidal," especially the
    comments about a former girlfriend.

snip

    When asked about the Pynchon letters, Ms. Donadio, who lives in
    Connecticut, said: "I never talked about Thomas Pynchon when I
    represented him. He was so terribly private." She added that it was "a
    matter of honor" not to talk about him now. Pynchon, of course, could
    not be reached for comment, but through his lawyer, Jeremy Nussbaum, he
    expressed his acute concern that Ms. Donadio had sold the letters.

    "It's a rather startling event," said Nussbaum. "I've never heard of an
    agent selling letters of a client, except after the death of the client.
    They were entrusted to her in a relationship of confidence, and they
    were sold against his wishes."

In the first sentence Gussow describes Pynchon as "a famously reclusive
author", and then categorises him as, "along with J.D. Salinger, one of the
mystery men of American letters. Very little is known about his life, he is
never knowingly photographed, and his curtain of secrecy is maintained by
relatives and friends". Gussow also details how he "moved from Mexico to
California, from Texas to London, trying to preserve his anonymity and
privacy.".

But I guess Gussow is just "putting us on", being ironic.

best


----------
>From: Doug Millison <DMillison at ftmg.net>
>

>
> In April 1964, Pynchon tells Ms. Donadio he is facing a creative crisis,
> with four novels in process. With sudden bravado, he says, "If they come out
> on paper anything like they are inside my head, then it will be the literary
> event of the millennium." If so, he wryly suggests that Alfred Knopf and
> Bennett Cerf will have a duel to see which one will be be his publisher.
> http://home.earthlink.net/~uur/mask.htm
>