He is one of the most polarizing figures in world literature. No photographs of him have been published since the fifties. He is the textbook example of postmodernism, famous for his large, dense, and (according to some people) unapproachable tomes. He is Thomas Pynchon: one of America’s leading men of letters, one of the most secretive novelists the world over, a perennial Nobel Prize in Literature candidate, and according to leading book critic and editor Ron Charles, his next book will apparently soon be arriving at bookstores. Charles tweeted that two sources at Penguin Press, Pynchon’s publishing house, had confirmed the news. If it is true, no release date has been set yet.

Entitled The Bleeding Edge, details are scarce, which is not too surprising considering Pynchon’s reclusive nature. It could be another labyrinthine, doorstop-sized novel like two of Pynchon’s most acclaimed books, Gravity’s Rainbow (winner of the 1974 National Book Award) and Mason and Dixon or it could be a beach read, like his latest book, Inherent Vice.

The term ‘bleeding edge’ is usually used when talking about new technology whose use could be risky or unreliable and cause companies great expenses. It is unclear if this is what Pynchon means with the title, but his books have a history of being concerned with mathematics and technology, so it is not too unlikely a guess.

Pynchon, following the tradition of J.D. Salinger, is a notoriously reclusive novelist. Details about his life are scarce. He was raised on Long Island, where he attended Oyster Bay High School, graduating at age 16. He attended Cornell University, where he studied Electrical Engineering before taking a few years off to join the navy. Upon his reentry into the school, he switched to English and enrolled in a class taught by Vladimir Nabokov of Lolita fame. After graduation, he took a job as a technical writer at Boeing while writing his first novel, V. He soon quit his job in the early 60’s and immersed himself in the hippie culture of California, whereupon the public’s knowledge of Pynchon ends.

Inherent Vice is also due for a movie adaption, sources say. Director Paul Thomas Anderson, famous for directing movies such as ‘There Will Be Blood’ and most recently ‘The Master’, has expressed interest in directing a film adaption of the novel. Principal shooting will take place this year, and IMDB gives the movie a tentative 2014 release date. The book was met with mixed reviews, but given Anderson’s past experiences with filmmaking, it could become one of the greatest movies of the decade.

Image Courtesy : Intrepidteacher

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About the author

William Shadbolt
English undergraduate at Connecticut College. I'm originally from northern New Jersey right outside New York City. I like swimming, reading, frisbee, and have a penchant for fast food.

1 Comment for Rumor: New Thomas Pynchon Novel?

Bennt Porpentine

Man. it is so nice that you care, but despite what teachers will allow students to get away with, caring takes some effort. I guess you’ll delete but read before you do.
“No photographs of him have been published since the fifties.” Photographs have been published; you can see them online. Pynchon has not authorized the publication of photographs. It was once true that no photographs that had not been taken in the ’50s had been published, but a photographer took a photo of him on the streets of NYC in the ’90s; it is kind of blurry but was published.
Reclusive nature: Ok you get this from journalists but don’t be as dimwitted as them. Look up the word reclusive. Pynchon ain’t one; he has a wife and other relationships: how about media-shy or secretive.
You did, however, make up Electrical Engineering; you are someone else made up became an English major after returning from the Navy. The evidence suggests he did so as a sophomore, before entering the Navy. There is also no evidence that Pynchon formally took a course with Nabokov, though it was once popular to say so and he may have sat in on lectures. P went to Mexico after he quit his job. Blah blah blah blah

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