Pynchon fax

[jbor]

It's quite ironic that in his interviews (i.e. actual interviews) promoting
his own book Hajdu seems to be getting as much publicity mileage as he can
out of the supposed uniqueness of Pynchon responding to his inquiries about
Fariña. In fact, it's Hajdu himself who seems to playing up the "reclusive
author" reputation in these interviews. I'm not convinced that Hajdu calling
the fax reply from Pynchon an "interview" and following that up by claiming
that "he had never done this before", thereby implying that his "interview"
with Pynchon is in fact Pynchon's "first" (which is how some reviewers of
Hajdu's book have described it) is a wholly reliable indicator of the status
of the correspondence, particularly when there is documentary evidence of
Pynchon sending a similar written response to at least one other researcher
in the past (i.e. the letter to Thomas F. Hirsch reprinted in David Seed's
book). 

The interviews with Hajdu I've read substantiate the earlier observation
that Pynchon merely faxed a reply to him (there seems to have been only one,
though Hajdu notes that Pynchon "also let me quote his correspondence"), and
Hajdu discloses yet another interesting piece of information that has been
overlooked, commenting that the fax exchange was conducted "by way of an
intermediary". It seems to me that Hajdu's description of his "contact" with
Pynchon confirms rather than refutes the reputation Pynchon has nurtured as
private, cautious, averse to being interviewed or photographed. It certainly
in no way contradicts Pynchon's 1997 statement to CNN that he is someone who
"doesn't like to talk to reporters".

http://www.gadflyonline.com/04-01-02/book-hajdu.html

Thomas Pynchon was Farina's best man, as you note, and you quote Pynchon
several times in the book. How were able to pin him down?

"He was very generous with me and helpful and I think that was out of
respect for his old friend Richard. He responded well to my questions, by
fax, by way of an intermediary. One day I came home and the fax machine is
churning and it was answers from Thomas Pynchon. I was so excited about it.
He had never done this before. I couldn't sit still. I had to go out and
take my dog for a walk, just kind of run around the block. My mouth was
parched so I put the dog on a post and I ran in to get a cold drink at the
deli. I came back to the house, pacing, the buzzer rings, it's the police. I
had left my dog tied to a post. Could I say I'm sorry, officer, I just got a
fax from Thomas Pynchon? I'm sure he'd understand."

See also:

http://popmatters.com/books/features/010802-hadju.html

best