AtD: The Modern World System & John Leonard

[Mark Kohut]

The phrase 'the Modern World System" appears in AtD.

It is  the name of a critical world history thesis--beyond a critical
Marxism-- in multiple volumes
by one Immanuel Wallerstein. (one of those major hunkers I would love to
have
already read but won't devote the time now).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-systems_theory

Perhaps interesting re Pynchon is that Wallerstein says it is not a nation
state critical analysis--see above--
and Pynchon's anti-statism is pretty well established in general, no?
Anyway, another clue to the puzzling
build-up of the sets of Chums by the end of the book and to his treatment
of Europe and this land of the USA
in the novel?

Anyway, I've recently learned this about the publication of the book, the
first volume, of course, which set the way.
It was conceived as a publishable book as a largely academic work, of
course, therefore as right for a university press
not a trade house. And, as the work expanded, the first press (and then a
couple more, I think) decided it would be too costly
to produce with not enough sales to even break even on it. So, they punted
and another punted and then it landed with another good
larger university press.

But that immeasurable buzz about it kept building as Wallerstein kept
writing it. And teaching it, I guess. That loud hum reached
the editor(s) of the NYTimes Book Review---which many of us consider the
best that rag ever had, John Leonard, and when this
first volume was published in 1975, he made sure it got a review in the NYT
Book Review. Another reason why he was a great one.

This most major ( in the US) general reader rag review made it sell well
beyond university libraries and made it live and grow faster than it might
have.