About the publication of The Secret Integration

[matthew cissell]

Mark et al,

   As usual your post is full of useful information, but I would like to
consider something other than the economic benefits reaped by both TRP and
SEP. However, to do so I would like to look at the broader literary and
publishing field as well as TRP's own limited publishing history at the
time.

   The SEP makes most people think of Norman Rockwell, all american,
wholesome - like columnist Garet Garret. However, by the late 50's the
publication was in decline, in part because tastes were changing and their
staid content needed refreshing, but without taking something "scandalous"
like Kerouac or Henry Miller. Maybe some new talent but not too risque.

  In comes TRP, but he's not that new by 1964. A-and why would he want to
publish in SEP, he doesn't need the money that badly. What does he gain?

  I think there are a couple of reasons for TSI's appearing in SEP.

      First, one of the reasons would be to appear between the pages that
had printed the likes of Faulkner and more, thus Pynchon accrues symbolic
capital by belonging to the group of authors published by the magazine.
This is not an entirely calculating decision as one with a good feel for
the game knows that certain institutions carry their own stamp with which
one is marked thus conferring capital to the recipient.

       It also allows Pynchon to reach an audience very different from the
readers of Kenyon Review or Nobel Savage in which he had published other
short stories.

   A more calculating reason occurs to me, but it is not in terms of
capital gain, rather a strategic move on Pynchon's part to be a bit of a
prankster. Given the nature of The Secret Integration, it must have been
very amusing to Pynchon to be able to publish the story in the SEP given
the profile of the magazine's readership. It is akin to sending a copy
of *Gravity's
Rainbow* to Werner Von Braun as TP and Smith did. A sort of jape.

This may be why he is not on their list of great contributors, but that is
speculative. Although it would be interesting to know how thay came to that
decision.

ciao
mc



On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 12:17 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> in 1964 in one of the two great magazines for fiction, The Saturday
> Evening Post. One which, under legendary editors, helped "create
> America's" sensibility, with huge cultural impact. A 'race' story in
> 1964, the year---mid-December I learn---so must have been published
> before---- the Civil
> Rights Act was passed.
>
> F Scott Fitzgerald had over 60 stories published in it and was paid
> $4000 per in the twenties, equivalent to about $40,000 these times.
> Four or five a year and he (and Zelda) lived well. Source says he
> earned over $2 Million from it, or again, around $20 Million our money.
>
> Do Pynchon scholars know what TRP got for it? in decline and with
> competition,
> it seems prices were still around Roaring Twenties amounts so less with
> inflation.
> (Interestingly, it seems prices for some writers had gone higher even
> in the Depression thirties. Perhaps circulation even rose as a cheap mag
> was like a cheap movie need during the worst of times)
>
> From @1963 on, John O'Hara was getting $3,000 for stories under 14 pages
> and $4,000 for longer ones. TRP, Faulkner first novel winner and brand new
> talent,
> with a good agent, musta got around that? Long story, surely over 14
> magazine pages?
>
> Do we know of any reviewers or critics---or even literarily-infused
> cultural commentators
> who commented on the story at the time it was published---for its subject
> matter maybe?
> Quick Google Books search gives me only later scholars on it.
>
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