Pynchon's interviews

[Doug Millison]

Ruth,

No doubt, Pynchon has used a variety of means to communicate with the
public, and he appears to have kept close control over them all as he
guards his privacy closely.  If the Playboy Japan interview is authentic,
and it turns out that he talked to the reporter on the phone or in person,
that would represent a different kind of interview than he has granted in
the past.   In my work as a journalist, I've often been frustrated when
somebody refused  to be interviewed in person or on the phone, or who
demanded control over the interview by requesting approval of questions
prior to the interview, demanded the right to review and edit an interview
transcript, or demanded the right to approve quotes used in the final
published story -- my practice, and that of most reputable journalists to
my knowledge, is not to grant those sorts of liberties, and retain
editorial control over the interview and resulting story.  Celebrities or
otherwise in-demand personalities are sometimes able to force journalists
and their editors to bend those rules, of course.

This thread started with another P-lister's assertion that Pynchon has
maintained a deliberate 40-year silence, a claim that the actual facts of
P's communications with his public outside his novels and stories just
won't support.   I don't buy into the myth of Pynchon as a recluse, and
like to call attention to the way his communications with the public tend
to undercut this myth.

Cordially,
Doug