What I happened upon....

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Billy Genocide [mailto:billygenocide at gmail.com]
> 
> That said, from what I've gathered about him from the various second-hand
> sources out there, I do believe he does it for the wrong reasons. It seems
> to me that he has a huge ego and doesn't want to 'lower' himself or his work
> to the level of a common celebrity. 

where have you found any evidence of that?
I haven't read anything about him or by him that gave me that impression.
 --  the intro to SL (where he puts down aspects of his own early work) seems pretty humble, and the family scenes in all his books show compassion.

I'd be inclined to think, simply, time. Yes, one could get some material from doing public appearances, but he doesn't write about being a writer so his research needs to be done in other ways.    

If that isn't enough, being private also lets his work speak for itself.  And lends him a certain notoriety. 

Kenneth Rexroth, whose writing I admire, once made a statement that would give that type of impression - when asked about his involvement in the Beat movement he described himself as an entomologist, not a bug.  I think that was a put-on of sorts anyway, but Pynchon's never emitted anything like that (though he could be privately thinking himself superior, true) - has he?