Yes! More on the Simpsons!

[jbor]

Just to clarify: Pynchon's *correspondence* with Hajdu is in the the same
category as the letter he sent to Thomas F. Hirsch back in 1967 or '68
(reprinted in David Seed's book). Someone contacted him and asked for
information, and he graciously supplied it. People do it every day, in their
jobs, in their private lives, on email discussion lists: no-one thinks of it
as an *interview*, and it's not at all like the *interviews* which every
other American author (Salinger excepted) gives when they publish a book, or
when some journalist contacts them asking for their opinions on this or that
episode of international terrorism or presidential election, or otherwise at
the drop of a hat. Considering that there would have been an expectation
from Pynchon's publishers, particularly early on in his career, for him to
give interviews, do book signings and reading tours, attend awards
ceremonies etc, in order to promote sales of his work, I think it's fair
enough to make comment on this deliberate choice of his to avoid publicity
of this type, and the fact that he has maintained this stance consistently
for over forty years.

And, arguably, in the long run the fact that he has chosen to remain aloof
from the media and the publicity machine (and I've never called him a
recluse, by the way) has actually become a viable marketing angle in itself,
and it's a bandwagon which not only the media but his publishers, and now
Pynchon himself in the Simpsons episode, have jumped on. While *we* might
choose to interpret his appearance as a dig at the "reclusive" tag he's been
lumbered with by the media, the bulk of Simpsons viewers aren't going to
know one way or another. The great majority of them will simply see him as a
writer who is trying to use the "reclusive author" tag as a marketing tool
himself, as just another crazy gimmick or publicity stunt -- and I'd say
Pynchon himself would have to have been very conscious of this.

On another point: all along I've accepted that Pynchon *might* have said
something similar to what was published in Playboy Japan over two years ago
now; of course, it's also just as possible that it's a total fabrication,
just another hoax. Either way the point remains that it was almost certainly
*not* something which had been arranged and conducted with Pynchon's consent
as a formal interview (who was the interviewer?), and I'd say that Pynchon
was totally unaware that his words or sentiments, if they are his, were to
be recorded and published. No-one of any repute in the States, or anywhere
else for that matter -- either in the media or academia -- has touched it
with a barge pole. 

best


> And don't forget that Pynchon actually interviewed the band members from
> Lotion, but I'll stand by the assertion. I believe that even Hajdu himself
> subsequently referred to the two fax replies he received from Pynchon when
> he was doing research for his book as "correspondence", and explicitly not
> "an interview" -- and so I think it's fair to say that the exchange between
> the two of them was actually quite a different thing to what any reasonable
> person would consider as an "interview". That being the case, it's true that
> Pynchon has never willingly *given* an interview -- specifically, he has
> never spoken to a member of the press in order to publicise himself, his
> opinions, or his work.
> 
> I also don't think that the call he made to the CNN people to ask them not
> to broadcast the video footage supports the idea that he does not guard his
> privacy to an extreme degree (and it's this incident which seems to me to be
> the in-joke behind the "as much as I like cameras" line from the Simpsons
> episode). As to the "reclusive" tag, he reportedly said something to the
> effect that he believed that "recluse is a code word generated by
> journalists ... meaning, 'doesn't like to talk to reporters'", which pretty
> firmly establishes his scorn for journalists, and the unlikelihood of him
> ever giving, or having given, an interview to one.
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/05/pynchon/
> 
> We've been over this a number of times, I know, but it's still worth getting
> the facts straight.
> 
> But, yes, that he refers to himself as "a reclusive author" in the clip does
> make fun of the reputation he has garnered, even if that reputation is
> warranted to a very large degree and is one which he has actively nurtured
> throughout his career.
> 
> Whether he had a hand in writing or modifying the script for his cameo
> appearance on the show, or merely agreed to say what was written for him,
> seems irrevelant. I agree that the vocal characterisation is well done.
> 
> best
>