I was introduced to Thomas Pynchon as a young literary lad at the University of Santa Cruz. My friend and housemate, a Political Theory student and TA, recommended “Crying of Lot 49″ to me and it got it’s hooks into me – deep. After reading that short little book, I’d cruise around campus and see muted horns everywhere, as well as W.A.S.T.E. graffiti on the campus mailboxes, etc. It was quite fun being let in on the secret universe. And to make things just a touch more scintillating, there were rumors at the time that the hyper-reclusive Thomas Pynchon was actually a UCSC professor (this has since been disproven as Pynchon has made several appearances and been hunted religiously be zealous fans).

Anyways, from there, I started reading his works voraciously, taking down every scrap that he’s written. The best gift I have ever received was a release-day copy of “Mason and Dixon” while I was living in France. My girlfriend at the time went to the store and shipped it to me express. I had to be the first person in France with a copy.

I even reinstituted an old reading group when “Against the Day” came out. Similar to the group I started to read “Gravity’s Rainbow,” I think I was the only one that finished.

Well, that’s all the long way of getting to the point. Rumors of Thomas Pynchon’s newest: next August, 400 page noir with psychedelia.

Hey, this is short for Pynchon! Anybody want to read it together upon release?

This one goes out to the folks who read “Against the Day” with me. It’s the best review of the novel I have read to date, exposing the great faults and the dizzying underlying talent at the same time. It comes as little surprise that a review this well-written wasn’t written anytime near the books release. This sort of understanding can only come from serious time invested.

VQR: Back to the Future: On Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day

[Tip of the hat for finding this one goes to the Marginal Revolution blog. Thank you!]