STaGgeR tentative opener

[Michael Bailey]

I'd be delighted to hear more about darkness/shadow in this text, or others you're studying.

My usual focus is on affectionate relationships and wordplay, and tangents of course, if that can be called a focus; it'd be great to read about your perceptions and they would probably encourage some thoughtful responses from others too.

Haven't heard of Anne Battesti before - if you care to share more about her writings, vita, cohort, apocrypha and/or anecdotes, I think most everyone on the list would also thank you.


________________________________
From: Corbeau Castrum <filsducorbeau at pm.me>
Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2026 8:56 AM
To: Michael Bailey <mi256118 at ucf.edu>; Pynchon Mailing List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Subject: Re: STaGgeR tentative opener

Pynchon's writing is always characterized by the multiplicity of relations it encourages (not my phrase, from anne battesti a French Pynchon scholar), so naturally "shadow" can apply to a lot of things.

A focus on darkness, what remains in the shadow, marginalized, preterite, Black is very present in Gravity's Rainbow (this is the subject of my master's research). Despite this multiplicity style, in GR Pynchon does have specific, concrete historical references that ground the writing. So this means the Black experience, whether in America, Africa, or Europe (political historical), and the connected association of blackness with shit, fear of death, and sexual perversion (psychoanalytic, biological, protestant/religious, existential, sexual). This focus on Blackness also exists at the level of form in terms of the text's availability that parallels the Black body's availability, but that's another, more complicated conversation.

In your reading of Shadow Ticket, I'd be curious to hear what associations (if any) the text makes with darkness and shadows (and if this could be related to its narrative form).


-------- Original Message --------
On Sunday, 04/05/26 at 07:52 Michael Bailey via Pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

_Shadow Ticket_  (awesome) Groupish (guileless everyday) Read


Inspired by memories of particular times walking while feeling really, really good, for various reasons…and not always taking the most direct line between any two points (for varying reasons)


I like the author, I like the book, I’m’a post everyday starting at the beginning and stopping after the end

If anyones else want to get more organized than that I’ll gladly fold my contributions into whatever format is settled upon

Will probably reply to any responses (appreciate courtesy of course), but no guarantee except that any replies will be courteous by my fairly conventional lights.


Shadow Ticket - various meanings, but I sort of like the idea that it’s a ticket ie work order, for this private dick McTaggart, to shadow somebody.

There’s not necessarily any textual evidence for that

(Textual evidence? We don’t need no stinking textual evidence!) (jk, mostly)

The book itself, the, um, jacket, reminds me of the BE jacket except it’s, like, not glossy, but matte. I like the look of both glossy and matte, though I prefer the *feel* of matte. I think that’s the right word but I’m too lazy to check right now.

It’s a particular citynightscape.

Having read through, must say it’s kind of a dark book, subject-matter-wise, but maybe dark like a citynightscape, ie there are bright spots.


More tomorrow, probably






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