Pynchon fax

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 10:49 AM
Subject: Pynchon fax


> I'm not sure who asked, or whether it was on- or off-list (apologies if
so),
> and this isn't the source I recall (I think it might have been the defunct
> Pynchon Files, but I'm certain the stories are documented elsewhere also),
> but here is a version of the
jumping-out-of-a-window-to-avoid-Norman-Mailer
> story and the disappearing-from-a-Mexico-hotel-room story (which my memory
> had combined into one rather than two stories). The stories appear to be
> based on witness statements.
>
> best
>
> http://www.theaesthetic.com/NewFiles/pynchon.html
>
> [...]
>
> In the absence of solid details, Pynchon's life has become something of a
> legend in literary circles. Stories abound. One story involved the book
> jacket photographer for "V" going to Pynchon's only known address, a hotel
> room in Mexico City, for a picture of the young author. The man who
> answered
> the door said Pynchon would be back in an hour, but when the photographer
> returned, the room was barren.
>

Richard Lane:
"BTW Pynchon was told by his landlady that the photographers had been
looking for him. He spent the next week, "week" Pynchon's word, at the
movies and the library. When they returned the next weekend, Pynchon took a
hotel room and his landlady finally persuaded the pair that he had returned
to the U.S. Upset by the experience, he left Mexico City.
Source: Letter to Faith & Kirk Sale 9 March 1963"


> Another story involved the typically aggressive Normal Mailer, who after
> making numerous requests to have a drink with Pynchon, finally tracked him
> to an address and began pounding on the door. after a while, Mailer gave
> up,
> only to learn from neighbors that a strange tall man had jumped from the
> second story window and skittered off down the sidewalk.
>

Richard Lane:
"He never jumped out of a window. Wasn't that part of Water Kirn's article?
And wasn't it Norman Mailer knocking on the door. More junk. I asked Mailer.
They have never met."

Otto