Ishmael Reed

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Has anyone read Ishmael Reed?

"Well and keep in mind where those Masonic Mysteries came from in the first place.  (Check out Ishmael Reed.  He knows more about it than you'll ever find here.)"

GR, p.588 (Penguin)

I consider this the weakest moment (possibly the only weak moment) in the whole book.  Pynchon suddenly steps into the book as Pynchon and plugs a present-day writer.   It's very jarring. 

Reed's writing career had barely begun.  His pre-1973 works:

The Freelance Pallbearers, 1967
Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down, 1969
Mumbo-Jumbo, 1972
Neo-HooDoo Manifesto, 1972
Conjure: Selected Poems, 1963-1970, 1972

Does anyone know which book(s) Pynchon is refering to?

Laura