"The Foreword is not about 9/11, [...]But it was about 9/11 when the author wrote it." I keep reading this kind of logic from the 9/11 camp. It isn't necessary if you just accept what Pynchon wrote. 2) Why circa 2003 for an allusion to 9/11? You have changed my question completely. My questions are good questions for the 9/11 camp.