English Majors

[Paul Mackin]

On 9/30/2012 1:32 PM, Monte Davis wrote:
> Expanding an earlier reply: BS chemistry, BA comp. lit. Science writer, then
> business writer mostly for high-tech companies. In the interstices, 5 years
> of teaching English at a prep school and PR writing as an adjunct at
> college.
>
> Being nearly as old as dirt and/or Paul Mackin, I learned of Pynchon through
> dipping into my father's Bantam paperback of V. in '64 or '65, but didn't
> read it then (must have missed the weird kink of Mondaugen's story, which
> would surely have hooked me). A college friend pressed CoL49 on me in '66 or
> '67, and I loved it. Don't remember how my brother and I heard the pre-buzz
> about GR from a cabin in the Maine woods, but we had it ASAP and I've never
> recovered. I've had only a handful of TRP-knowledgeable acquaintances
> outside of lit. professors and the p-list.

Bet you weren't  born during the Cooledge administration.

:-)
>
>   
> From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf
> Of Matthew Cissell
> Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 10:04 AM
> To: Brian Kempf; pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: English Majors
>
> B,
>
> Your post has elicited responses from a number of  P-listers, some of whom
> don't post very regularly. Whatsmore it has got some to offer more
> information than their major - the bio bits are interesting. You see I share
> this curiousity about the Pynchon reading public. My own intention is to
> soon post a survey here and get some real data for my own research. (It
> would be interesting to know when and at what age people read PYnchon, but
> also occupation, and another of number of things. Not just to create some
> demographic chart but rather to unveil the relations between social
> practices and background.) Here's my own bit: I graduated (in absentia - I
> was studying abroad) with a BA in English  from Southern Illinois University
> in 1997. Additional coursework towards minors in Philosophy and science
> (genetics); Mark, I'm a bit Manque as well. Took time out and worked for a
> spell at Washington UNiversity as a lab drone helping map the human genome.
> In 2000 I came to Spain and started teaching English as a 2nd language; I
> decided to go back to school to save my sanity (how ironic). In the
> coursework I came across a book that I had seen years before on a friend's
> shelf (I had even picked up the book and thought about borrowing it - how
> different things might be now), The CoL49. My academic focus then swithced
> to Pynchon.
>
> Oddly enough, in none of my previous course work had I come across Pynchon.
> I even did a 400 level course on "Postmodernism" and he was not included,
> but then the professor made it clear that she didn't want the same old male
> hegemony imposed on the syllabus. Moreover, I have also met people with
> literature degrees that had no idea of Pynchon, as others here have
> mentioned. And so?
>
> Well it's one thing to have read an author that no one else knows, even an
> "important" writer, but quite another for that same author to be used in
> mass media cultural prducts. Of course, I'm thinking of TP's participation
> in the Simpsons but also a piece from The
> Onion. http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-reading-pynchon-on-bus-takes-pai
> ns-to-make-cov,3192/    Try to imagine this piece with any other name from
> the Ladbrokes Nobel betting list. My point is that Pynchon has a very
> special place in the field of cultural production and research on his
> reading public may reveal some interesting things e.g that his readers are
> NOT limited to the halls of academia and that TP is NOT a writer's wrt'iter.
>
> All the best,
>
> Matt Cissell
>
> ps congrats on the switch from the sad science, may it be a happy one.
>   
> ________________________________
> From: Brian Kempf <btkempf at gmail.com>
> To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2012 7:09 PM
> Subject: English Majors
>
> I'm curious about how many P-listers here have degrees in English,
> Literature, or something similar. I just transferred from a BS in Economics
> to a BA in English at my school.
> I've yet to meet anyone who reads (or knows) Pynchon, so I'm curious as to
> what those who do studied or what fields they work in.
> Thoughts?
>
> B
>
>