Cohen: M&D & the Ampersand

[severs at fas.harvard.edu]

I've read Cohen's essay, and, amid all this hooha about Pynchon apocrypha and
suspicions about biographical detail, I'm reminded to ask if anyone knows the
provenance for the story Cohen cites at the essay's beginning and that I'd
heard around the time of the book's publication too: that Pynchon was heavily
involved in the design of the M&D cover and (presumably, if you follow Cohen's
pretty persuasive reading) having that ampersand dominate it?

And do we know anything about his involvement with any of the other covers?

Best,
Jeff


Quoting jbor at bigpond.com:

> A well-written and very interesting essay (pdf) which addresses "the
> shift in Pynchon's thinking that the novel represents. As he spins the
> picaresque historical tale in _M&D_, Pynchon also tells a new, more
> hopeful story about America, emphasizing relation, connection and
> possibility. At the centre of this new story is the ampersand." (265)
>
> 'Mason & Dixon & the Ampersand' by Samuel Cohen
> _Twentieth Century Literature_ 48.3  2002, pp. 264 -291.
>
> Well worth a look.
>
> best
>