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Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz: Being wrong, as it turns out, isn't just the other variable in a binary opposition. Indeed, the relationship between our beliefs and the vast body of knowledge is one of humanity's big problems, but, at times, one of its great virtues. This thoughtful volume outlines numerous examples of human folly, from end-of-the-world prophets to ocular misperception, and makes a strong case for becoming more transparent about human fallibility, even when the results can be quite deadly. (Bat Segundo interview)
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orrigner: This sweeping epic, which has been rightly identified in some corners as a "Holocaust page turner," puts to rest any and all rumors that the historical novel is dead. Orringer's great talent for balancing fine Romantic details, a vigorous synthesis of prewar Paris and Magyar strife, and Nazi brutality demonstrates a remarkable evolution from her previous short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, and makes this a must read. (Bat Segundo interview)
If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This by Robin Black: Forget Wells Tower. Robin Black's marvelous short story collection, which has been needlessly ignored by The New York Times and The Washington Post, is very much on the level: far better than anything written by that lumbering Young Turk. These subtle stories have the maturity to avoid belabored metaphors and neat conclusions, revealing numerous nuances about the human condition in its careful use of understated language. (Bat Segundo interview)
Pynchon, Thomas Archive
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Review: Taking Woodstock (2009)
Posted on August 25, 2009 | 2 CommentsThe realities were already fixed; the illness was understood to be terminal, and the energies of The Movement were long since dissipated by the rush to self-preservation. — Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) Altamont’s fixed realities are thankfully mentioned at... -
Pynchon and Protestantism
Posted on January 9, 2007 | No CommentsAmerican Prospect: “It’s easy to mistake Pynchon’s jittery, inventive monologues and his resentment of social order for the ramblings of a stoner hippie. But if Pynchon is a hippie he also drank his Protestantism deeply, and his sense of ineffable divinity sits uneasily alongside the... -
“Against the Day” Roundtable, Part Four
Posted on January 5, 2007 | No Comments[NOTE: The discussion can also be followed at Metaxucafe. Previous installments: Part One (Max), Part Two (Carolyn) and Part Three (Megan).] The New Chums of Chance, aided by associative penchant and a perfervid desire to ferret out reference, continued their journey, hitting beyond Part One... -
“Against the Day” Roundtable, Part Three
Posted on January 4, 2007 | 2 Comments[NOTE: The discussion can also be followed at Metaxucafe. Previous installments: Part One (Max) and Part Two (Carolyn).] The New Chums of Chance rose further into the sky, wondering if Pynchon’s opus would take them into the heliosphere and whether the airy confines of the... -
“Against the Day” Roundtable, Part Two
Posted on January 3, 2007 | 8 Comments[VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: In case it wasn't clear, the Quite Balding Moderator wishes to note that this post came from the mordant wit of Carolyn Kellogg and not from his dunder-soaked head.] [IMPORTANT NOTE (Not as Important as the First, But Important Nonetheless): The discussion... -
“Against the Day” Roundtable, Part One
Posted on January 2, 2007 | 3 Comments[NOTE: The discussion can also be followed at Metaxucafe. Previous installments: Part Two (Carolyn) and Part Three (Megan).] It was with great fortitude and due diligence that the New Chums of Chance, in collusion with those very active operators over at Metaxucafe, took it upon... -
Due to Recent Legal Threats, This Blog Will Now Be Known as “Blog Posts Showing What Happens on Each Synapse of Edward Champion’s Mind”
Posted on December 11, 2006 | No CommentsGeorgie Lewis of Tin House writes in with the following news: The highly anticipated publication of artist/provocateur Zak Smith’s visual homage to Thomas Pynchon’s seminal novel Gravity’s Rainbow took a bizarre turn last week. Pynchon’s publisher, Penguin USA, believing the book’s original title, Gravity’s Rainbow... -
Against the Fray
Posted on December 5, 2006 | 5 CommentsThomas Pynchon may not have been susceptible to the Rake’s $49 check (and neither apparently is Dave Eggers), but the Ian McEwan flap has had Pynchon issuing a letter in support of McEwan. Then again, on second thought, given that “indispensable” is misspelled in the... -
Add Another Chick Who Reads Pynchon to the List
Posted on November 21, 2006 | No CommentsLaura Miller weighs in. She doesn’t like it. url='http://www.edrants.com/add-another-chick-who-reads-pynchon-to-the-list/';size='small'; -
More Takes on Pynchon
Posted on November 19, 2006 | 4 CommentsChristopher Sorrentino Ian Rankin (!) Carlin Romano Donna Liquori insists that girls don’t like Pynchon. (Huh? I’m sure that Pynchon tattoo-donning Carolyn would disagree.) Steven Moore Malcolm Jones on the first 400 pages, which is more than I’ve read. (I am indeed a slow reader.)... -
Jerome Weeks Embraces Blog Form More Adroitly Than Expected
Posted on November 15, 2006 | 1 CommentJerome Weeks complains about Pynchon and writes (even though he admits that he hasn’t read the entirety of Mason & Dixon), “His best work remains The Crying of Lot 49. There’s something to be said for succinctness.” I couldn’t agree more (on the succint part,... -
Pynchon Roundtable Forthcoming
Posted on November 1, 2006 | 1 CommentHear ye! Hear ye! Adept literary connoisseurs and other devoted followers of the Chums of Chance may wish to note that a roundtable, it being an interchangeable variable to be squared in a forthcoming equation, shall begin anew for the thick tome, Against the Day,... -
Occupied
Posted on October 28, 2006 | 7 CommentsFirst page: epigraph from Thelonious Monk. Flip. Next page: Seal. Flip. Title page: One. The Light Over the Ranges. Flip. “Now single up all lines!” “Cheerly now…handsomely…very well! Prepare to cast her off!” “Windy City, here we come!” “Hurrah! Up we go!” It was amid... -
Pynchon Red Alert
Posted on October 23, 2006 | 4 CommentsI’ve been informed that Against the Day is now in transit from New York. Reading and reporting will begin IMMEDIATELY upon its arrival. [UPDATE: Mr. Orthofer has his copy and offers some details.] url='http://www.edrants.com/pynchon-red-alert/';size='small'; -
New Thomas Pynchon a Terry Malloy?
Posted on October 12, 2006 | 4 CommentsAccording to Marianne Wiggins, one of the fiction judges for this year’s National Book Awards, “As for Pynchon, it was patently obvious it wasn’t a contender.’” url='http://www.edrants.com/new-thomas-pynchon-a-terry-malloy/';size='small'; -
Pynchon Galleys Personalized
Posted on October 5, 2006 | 2 CommentsJohn Freeman observes that the galleys of Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day are now being circulated, with the recipient’s name on the galley. I just sent the following email to Paul Slovak: Paul: Seeing as how you folks are personalizing the galleys, which, aside from... -
Pynchon Date Moved Up
Posted on September 6, 2006 | No CommentsChris Sweet observes that Amazon has bumped Against the Day‘s release date up to November 21. url='http://www.edrants.com/pynchon-date-moved-up/';size='small'; -
The Prying Into Lot 49
Posted on August 16, 2006 | No CommentsRon Silliman has an excellent post up about the documentary Thomas Pynchon — A Journey Into the Mind of P. and auctorial anonymity. url='http://www.edrants.com/the-prying-into-lot-49/';size='small'; -
Imagine If All Those Energies Went to Deconstructing the Text Instead of Harassing the Poor Man
Posted on August 7, 2006 | No CommentsIf you think litbloggers have too much spare time, check out this obsessive video, whereby a bunch of Pynchon freaks dissect a shadowy two-second video image of Pynchon walking down the streets of New York. So Pynchon’s an “aging hipster” and may be wearing a... -
New Pynchon Novel Gets a Name
Posted on July 20, 2006 | No CommentsAssociated Press: The book is called Against the Day. Penguin publicist Tracy Locke has also confirmed that Pynchon wrote the blurb. url='http://www.edrants.com/new-pynchon-novel-gets-a-name/';size='small'; -
Pynchon Description
Posted on July 17, 2006 | No CommentsFrom Pynchonoid (via the Rake), a description for Pynchon’s next novel from the main man himself: Spanning the period between the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, this novel moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century... -
New Pynchon Book?
Posted on June 20, 2006 | 31 CommentsFrom Scott comes this rumor that Pynchon has a new book out in December from Viking, set in 1897 Chicago. There is nothing currently listed at the Amazon site, nor on the Penguin site, but the Wikipedia Pynchon entry notes: It has been rumored that... -
Pynchon’s Niece is a Porn Director?
Posted on April 11, 2006 | 1 CommentYou learn something new every day. url='http://www.edrants.com/pynchons-niece-is-a-porn-director/';size='small'; -
More Fun with Amazon
Posted on September 20, 2005 | No CommentsAmazon has recently instituted “text stats,” which measures a book by Fleish-Kincaid index (the higher you go, the more difficult it is to read), percentage of complex words and words per dollar. Now if this is the basis for why one should read, let’s see... -
Quickies
Posted on January 26, 2004 | No CommentsPrimer: Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The film was made for $7,000, doesn’t appear to have a distribution deal yet, but somehow manages to involve time travel and ethics in its plot. The intricate story has also... -
Quickies
Posted on January 21, 2004 | 2 CommentsThanks to computers, professor Floyd Horowitz has uncovered 24 stories likely to have been authored by Henry James. Using common phrases, themes and pen names (the same methodology used to track down Joe Klein as the author of Primary Colors), Horowitz was able to track... -
The Reluctant Tries to Remain Impartial Too, But…
Posted on December 16, 2003 | No CommentsThe BBC has banned its journalists from writing newspaper and magazine columns pertaining to current affairs. The m.o.? “Impartiality.” The ban extends to both staff and freelancers. There is at least some consolation: voicing vitriolic opinions on things like food is considered impartial. Whether such...