A likely hoax (Re: Pynchon Interview Playboy Japan -- Translated

[jbor]

on 14/3/03 2:09 PM, Tim Strzechowski at dedalus204 at attbi.com wrote:

> For all the talk about its being "lame," I sort of wonder that our
> expectations of everything Pynchon puts his name to oughtn't to be some sort
> of brilliant and witty observation, so the occasional dud piece must, for
> some reason, not be by him.  I'm not familiar with how this piece happened
> to be published in a Japanese magazine, or why. But it is amusing to see how
> some listers deify the man and his works.

I don't think it has anything to do with hagiography, and nor is translation
or retranslation the real issue. The fact that the context and circumstances
of the "interview" remain undisclosed after nearly 18 months is pretty
suspicious. The big news was never the content of the "interview", which is
hardly profound even if you do happen to agree with some or all of it, but
that Pynchon actually gave an interview in the first place. And that is what
no-one outside of Japan Playboy has yet been able or willing to verify, let
alone report on.

So I don't think it's correct to conclude that Pynchon has "put his name to"
the piece. He's certainly nowhere credited as the author of the article. The
case for its authenticity seems to rest on the argument that Pynchon hasn't
disclaimed it, which is hardly convincing, considering the context of
publication and (lack of) response to it.

A lot of credible authorities asserted that Pynchon was Wanda Tinasky, or
that that was a valid possibility. He wasn't. So far no-one with any
credibility has swallowed this bait.

best