Pynchon's interview in Playboy Japan

[pynchonoid]

jbor:
[...] I seriously doubt that you'll ever
find the Japan Playboy piece included in a collection
of Pynchon works under
the author's name. [...]

I, too, doubt that Pynchon would take another
journalist's article and publish it over his own
byline.  While it's unlikely Pynchon would plagiarize
in such a fashion, it wouldn't be unheard of for a
collection of works *by* an author also to include
articles written *about* the author, or an *interview
with* the author.

With regard to the content of the Playboy Japan
interview, I don't understand why you and other
critics continue to critique it without examining the
text itself, or, if you can't read it in the original
Japanese, without collaborating with a Japanese
speaker who can help you understand it, or, at the
very least, work with a competent literary translation
of the interview. You can hardly do it justice
otherwise.


jbor:
{...] All I'm saying is that it is still apocryphal --
even after all this time
there has been no evidence produced which validates
its authenticity or
Pynchon's assent [... ]

Wrong. The interview is not "apocryphal". It's been
published and distributed by Playboy Japan, whose
editors have defended its authenticity. Pynchon Notes
editors have accepted the Playboy Japan interview as a
valid bibliography item.  Pynchon -- not known to
refrain from involving a lawyer when necessary -- has
apparently made no effort to disclaim it's
authenticity. It's as solid an entry in the Pynchon
bibliography as any other.  

I'm still not sure what jbor gains by continuing to
cast doubts about the standards and work practice of
the editors who have published his own article in
Pynchon Notes.  Does jbor really mean to suggest that
the PN editors don't take their work seriously?  

 


	
		
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