Happy birthday, Thomas Pynchon!

Fri May 9 15:05:41 CDT 2008

America's second-most elusive author turns 71 today, if Internet
sources are to be believed.

There's something charming about Pynchon's unwillingness to jump into
the churn of literary culture, as many authors feel compelled these
days to blog and respond to reviews and go on "Charlie Rose" and do
book tours and read at festivals and talk to NPR book shows and
whatever else they can to reach new readers. Without any of these
things, Pynchon has built a devoted, even cult-like following.

This weekend, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Freebird Books & Goods held a
pre-birthday bash for Pynchon fans; the lighthearted invitation
sparked some controversy. Attendees on Sunday dined on items from
"Gravity's Rainbow" and sent faxes (ostensibly) to the man himself.

The fax number is one trace of evidence that Pynchon lives and
breathes. He's also written occasionally for the New York Times and,
around the time of the publication of "Mason & Dixon" in 1997, was
photographed in New York.

His most fun -- and unexpected -- engagement with popular culture was
his appearance on the animated TV show "The Simpsons." Drawn with a
bag over his head, Pynchon (allegedly) spoke his own lines, which
included shouting to passing motorists, "Hey, over here, have your
picture taken with a reclusive author! Today only, we'll throw in a
free autograph. But wait! There's more!"

So I hold out hope that if he's watching TV (while not writing
1,000-plus-page dense and brilliant novels), he's also on the
Internet. Wouldn't it be nice for Thomas Pynchon to google himself and
wind up reading this birthday greeting?

Happy birthday, Thomas Pynchon!

Carolyn Kellogg

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/05/happy-birthday.html