>>>> There's a reason it was left out of Slow Learner. Yes, and it's a brain-numbingly perverse argument which speculates that Pynchon left it out of _Slow Learner_ -- and that he doesn't even mention it in the 'Intro' even though he does mention his connection with Baxter Hathaway, who published it -- because he (i.e. Pynchon) believes it's a good story. best