another sighting of rumo[u]r of new Pynchon book...

[Paul Mackin]

On Tue, 2004-11-09 at 10:54, pynchonoid wrote:
> Last year I passed along information to the p-list
> about Pynchon's new novel coming out in fall 2005,
> sourced here in the U.S.  It remains to be seen if
> this turns out to be true.
> 
> Last time I checked, the New Yorker is an American
> publication.  It recently published a cartoon about  a
> new Thomas Pynchon novel. It seems logical to assume
> that the cartoon was motivated by news or rumors
> circulating in the New York publishing community. 
> 
> Michael Neuman (hope I've got the name correct) is the
> source of the comments about the subject of Pynchon's
> next novel; if I remember correctly (Otto or
> Kurt-Werner?) he made those comments in Germany, after
> having worked for Pynchon's publisher here in the U.S.
> And there goes jbor's high-security, top-secret
> scenario.

It's Michael Nauman. As I recall he was the German gentleman who served
as CEO of Henry Holt after Holtzbrinck the German company took them
over.

This may not be right. Otto or Kai should know.

> 
> jbor still offers no evidence to support the claims
> he's made about the Playboy Japan intervew, both of
> which have been proven wrong:  first he claimed the
> interview was not published; then he claimed it was a
> fraud.  Playboy Japan has vouched for the authenticity
> of the interview.   Pynchon Notes included the
> interview in its bibliography - perhaps jbor would
> like to take the step of finding out from PN what they
> did to investigate the interview? (I'm going out on a
> limb and assuming that the editors of that fine
> publication would welcome further communication from
> him, even after the graceless things he's had to say
> about PN in this ongoing discussion about the Playboy
> Japan interview).  Since jbor's earlier speculation
> has been proven incorrect, the burden is on him to
> substantiate the baseless speculation he's currently
> circulating about the interview.  
> 
> If jbor is so concerned about getting a better
> translation of the intervew, here are two suggestions:
>  1.  Get a copy of the Japanese original and get
> somebody to translate it. 2.  Contact Playboy Japan
> directly and ask for an English translation. 
> (Time-saving hint:  somebody has already done this and
> was told that no English version of the interview
> would be published; back to suggestion 1.)
> 
> jbor's current position seems to be to denigrate the
> interview because, he fantasizes, Pynchon could not
> have agreed to it. This seems unlikely for two
> reasons:  1.  At the time of its publication,  it was
> reported that the Japanese journalist who conducted
> the interview was a friend or acquaintance of
> Pynchon's, and that Pynchon had in fact agreed to the
> interview.  2.  There's been no report of any legal
> action from Pynchon against Playboy Japan, which would
> be expected if the interview is not authentic, given
> Pynchon's past readiness to protect his privacy and
> intellectual property by legal means (a recent
> example:  making the letters he wrote to his former
> agent Candida Donadio unavailable to the public after
> they were acquired by a New York library).
> 
> If jbor thinks somebody should contact Pynchon's
> representatives for comment, why doesn't he do that
> himself?  And if he's not willing to take any action
> to find out - and apparently he hasn't done so,
> because he keeps making the same complaint, for the
> umpteenth time now - why doesn't he just stop whining
> about it?   Put up or shut up, as the poker players
> say.
> 
> 
> 
> =====
> http://pynchonoid.org
> "everything connects"
> 
> 
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