Re: BEg2 chapter 5 - “Winnie List”

[Michael Bailey]

I mean, Jane’s story is a pretty good piece of short fiction, by my lights.

A nice sidelight to BE, if not a partial source, as well.

Ok, I’ll shut up about that now.



On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 10:36 PM Michael Bailey <
michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:

> And yet I don’t mind.
>
> Slight bit different scenario would be they too were convinced by the
> disobey/ Netslaves tale & wiki’d it in good faith; or were leaving a
> breadcrumb to site of interest even if non-factual. For enthusiastic
> fictioneers, *especially* if non-factual.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 7:37 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> All of that explains the length and details of the BE mini-spin-off
>> fiction some one put on the Pynchonwiki.  Only a devoted story teller would
>> have gone to such lengths.  And they had you hook line& sinker.  🤡
>>
>> Bravo to them
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 7:24 PM Michael Bailey <
>> michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I think the books Netslaves & Netslaves 2, which spun off from the
>>> now-defunct site netslaves.com (referenced often on disobey.com) have
>>> some credibility.
>>>
>>> I remember hearing good things about Netslaves at the time, but the name
>>> was offputting.
>>>
>>>
>>> Authors have good vitas, one of them worked at Pathfinder.
>>>
>>> Bill Lessard has written for The Industry Standard and CNET. He has
>>> worked for Prodigy, Time Warner's Pathfinder, and numerous failed startups.
>>> With Steve Baldwin, he is the coauthor of NetSlaves (McGraw-Hill) and
>>> cofounder of NetSlaves.com. He lives in Yonkers, New York. Steve Baldwin
>>> has been an editor at PC Magazine, Computer Shopper, and Pathfinder and
>>> developed "Ghost Sites of the Web," an acclaimed e-zine devoted to failed
>>> Web sites. With Bill Lessard, he is the coauthor of NetSlaves (McGraw-Hill)
>>> and cofounder of NetSlaves.com. He lives in New York City.
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Net-Slaves-True-Tales-Working/dp/0071352430
>>>
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Net-Slaves-2-0-Tales-Surviving/dp/1581152841
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 7:03 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Are you saying Jane existed? Or that anything about that story (beside
>>>> an error in an OJReport) is true?
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 6:57 PM Michael Bailey <
>>>> michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Jane’s story culminates in her being the one at (name changed in
>>>>> story) Time Warner Pathfinder to put the “OJ Guilty” misprint up -
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/pathfindermuseum/hello/1322882/1024/pathfinder6-2005.06.20-12.09.56.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>> That brief error did happen.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does that prove there was a Winnie? Of course not.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is Jane’s story redolent with the flavor of dotcom contractors? Imho,
>>>>> yes.
>>>>> Is BE redolent in a similar way at various places? I think so.
>>>>> Does it improve the relishment of the story - yes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Want a Zima?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 6:05 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, I found the Brown reference.  He coined the phrase and concept,
>>>>>> but he never elaborated upon what it meant in any practical way.  I t
>>>>>> sounded cool, but that’s all it ever was, a cool idea without any real
>>>>>> application.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But you don’t think Jane’s story or anything about Winnie’s list on
>>>>>> Pynchonwiki was real, do you?  What you call early dotcom lore is probably
>>>>>> a fiction made up after ATD was published, right?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 5:56 PM Michael Bailey <
>>>>>> michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I appreciated the pointer to interesting early dotcom lore - &
>>>>>>> possible source material for Pynchon: Jane’s story has the $30 an hour, the
>>>>>>> Winnie list, &, seemed like, a couple other odds & ends that made it into
>>>>>>> BE - never would’ve found it without trying to prove you wrong, David.
>>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It may not be as high flown as finding an IG Farben employee manual,
>>>>>>> but there’s a little frisson at Jane’s Story as a possible source, isn’t
>>>>>>> there?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also, isn’t the Norman O Brown phrase you referenced the other day
>>>>>>> “polymorphous perversity?”
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hope all your recuperating is going good!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 5:41 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I never thought Winnie’s list was anything other than a joke by
>>>>>>>> Pynchon.  It’s not like I complained about it.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The crazy thing is how far someone on the Pynchonwiki went to
>>>>>>>> “document” its reality.  But what really made that suspicious was the
>>>>>>>> length of Jane’s Story, and, of course it’s non-existence in any trace on
>>>>>>>> the web.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 5:33 PM Michael Bailey <
>>>>>>>> michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> BE is a work of fiction so it’s okay to have fictitious references
>>>>>>>>> (imho)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It’d be cool if employers thought so too (-;
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>