English Majors

[Monte Davis]

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.

 
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