VLVL2 (9.5): "Just Like a William Powell"

[Terrance]

Pynchon packs everything he can into these songs. 

Two themes

Work & Partnerships

The key is  Hammett, whose influence is obvious from V. to VL 

Hammett/organized labor/organized crime

and on the personal level, 



Hammett TURN  from a pinkerton ... 

Dashiell Hammett left school early, and spent his adolescence and young
adulthood in a variety of odd jobs. His life truly began when he joined
the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1915  ... 1951 - Dashiell Hammett
sentenced to six months imprisonment for refusing to cooperate with
anti-communist witch hunt inquiry. 



The romantic-comedy  (un)partnership theme. 

The Turn theme. 

              You have many contacts
              Among the lumberjacks
              To get you facts
              When someone attacks your imagination
              But nobody has any respect
              Anyway they already expect you
              To just give a check
              To tax-deductible charity organizations

              You've been with the professors
              And they've all liked your looks
              With great lawyers you have
              Discussed lepers and crooks
              You've been through all of
              F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
              You're very well read
              It's well known