6 is now 4: The Penguin in a Skirt and Moustache

[bandwraith at aol.com]

In Order, Pynchon's publishers have been:

V.-  J.B. Lippincott

The Crying of Lot 49-  J.B. Lippincott

Gravity's Rainbow-  Viking

Slow Learner-  Little, Brown

Vineland-  Little, Brown

Mason & Dixon- Holt

Against the Day- Penguin

Inherent Vice- Penguin

The Bleeding Edge- Penguin

It would seem, from the distant outside, that Pynchon's choice of publisher is driven mainly by economic concerns. Does anyone else have some more insider information about this?



Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:20:50 +0100 (BST) 
From: Matthew Cissell <macissell@[omitted]> 
Subject: Re: 6 is now 4: The Penguin in a Skirt and Moustache 
To: Markekohut <markekohut@[omitted]>, 


In Al Siverman's "The Time of Their Lives" he quotes Katherine McNamara abo=
t a lunch her husband, Lee Goerner of Atheneum, had with Pynchon; at the e=
d of the lunch Pynchon said "Only publish good books". This and a number o=
 other things go to show how TRP is not just a writer but someone invloved=
in the the republic of letters and, more specifically, that branch of prod=
ction called publishing.=0A=0AThe fact that Penguin is being absorbed by B=
rtelsmann (with that dark mid-20thc. past) can't have escaped the notice o=
 the author that wrote that Intro for Orwell's 1984 in 2003.=0A=0AAnybody =
illing to entertain the idea that the publishing world somehow gets worked=
in there?

In Al Siverman's "The Time of Their Lives" he quotes Katherine McNamara abo=
t a lunch her husband, Lee Goerner of Atheneum, had with Pynchon; at the e=
d of the lunch Pynchon said "Only publish good books". This and a number o=
 other things go to show how TRP is not just a writer but someone invloved=
in the the republic of letters and, more specifically, that branch of prod=
ction called publishing.=0A=0AThe fact that Penguin is being absorbed by B=
rtelsmann (with that dark mid-20thc. past) can't have escaped the notice o=
 the author that wrote that Intro for Orwell's 1984 in 2003.=0A=0AAnybody =
illing to entertain the idea that the publishing world somehow gets worked=
in there?
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