I feel like Thomas Pynchon could write a novel about peoples search for him and by the end of the book we question whether he actually existed in the first place.
Yeah, if anything it's in reverse: he published the novel, refused to do publicity for it, and later began to embrace the enigma status the media put on him, leading to a public persona that bears obvious comparison to the mysterious figure he wrote about in the first place.
Mark Fisher kept calling the internet cyberspace right into the mid 2010s, but apparently cyberspace is actually a better descriptor of websites and social media than just calling it the broad "internet".
Thomas Pynchon is the short, brunette woman in the middle of the screen @3:34. He doesn't appear in visual images because the unique silica crystal composition of his epidermis, acquired as a result of the misapplication of an experimental Johnson and Johnson talcum product being tested as a high heat friction dispersal agent during his employment at Boeing, causes him to appear blurred in photo emulsions and pixilated in motion picture films and videos. People who have seen him in person describe him as looking somewhat like a Julia Set.
For me, as well as for many others, the mystery surrounding the man lends tremendously not only to our perception of him but to his works as well. It is fascinating to imagine/try to comprehend the undoubtedly extraordinary mind responsible for such complex, intellectually rich novels as have been attributed to it, without the stigma of confining it to an image. We have his novels: what more could anyone need?
100%. They singled him out and used a shot where he quickly disappears behind the stalk of a streetlamp. That's him, and he looks uncomfortable being out in public too, so I imagine this was shortly after he got ambushed while walking his son home from school. Scumbags that did that. I have to imagine it's a psychological disorder of his, writers are usually peculiar people and its not uncommon for them to have phobias and mental conditions. Not that he's crazy or strange, just that cameraphobia is a real thing.
I wonder how many people would have bought his books if he wasn't such an enigma. Of course he's a great writer, but still...bizarre 700page novels rarely become bestsellers. I'm not saying it's a scheme, just that it's strange and says something about our culture
It's the guy in the red baseball hat. I figured it was that specific shot before watching this clip because as a television news photographer and editor there is absolutely no other reason to use the shot. Think about it. At this point in the story they are making a point of showing how he blends into the 'normal' crowd. The guy who is presumably Pynchon, is in the shot for such a short time that there really is no other reason to use it.
Definitely. That individual also looks similar to the man they photographed holding hands with his young child in NY years ago. I also se a resemblance to the few newer pictures that came out recently showing a much older Pynchon.
I have good reason to believe he's writing low-profile releases under a silly pseudonym and living in the Pacific Northwest as of Fall 2011. As in, the guy I spoke to HAD to be him even though he never gave his real name.
Most writers come off as arrogant and snide in interviews so maybe Pynchon is wise to not do them. All I know is I'm 100 pages into Gravity's Rainbow and all I have to say is WTF?
it's 3:26. look at how the old man with the beige hat looks at the camera and then when the van passes in front of him he appears suddenly on the right side all while looking at the camera...
Check out the end of this video.... CNN video analyis in the last 10 minutes. ruclips.net/video/2rnIaQlFs4c/видео.html Says it is the guy in the red baseball cap starting at 3:22.
Americans are funny. They believe that just because they buy your book they own the rights to your soul. Probably because they don't have one of their own.
i remember that pynchon guy, he used to dress like a bum, real loser this guy, he lived in my neighborhood back in 63' and i was the candyman around the neighbordhood and he always came over...asking for junk, begging for money..... and i give him what he needed to stay alive, and he started to sell himself on the street and i think that drastically affected his writing (that was horrible all along around that time)
CNN is playing a cute game here...WEEEE know who he is and have his picture but Where's Waldo Pynchon...? Which begs the questions, Why would Thomas Pynchon care about CNN, and what dilettante reporter could track him down or identify him? Utterly ridiculous, but definitely worthy of CNN
Soren Aleksander I think it's a pretty funny joke, almost certainly of Pynchon's own design: Thomas Pynchon, Legendary Author, J.D. Salinger of His Generation, is totally indistinguishable from any other Joe Blow on the street of New York. Because, duh, of course he is.
He doesn't care about CNN. He doesn't want them to use the fruits of their spying. And he's obviously the man with the red cap: the only person who's filmed alone.
That was my initial feeling as well. I'd like something more substantial. In today's world it requires much more effort to not be photographed, which is why I'm surprised he bothers.
Reminds me of the guy who faked a Howard Hughes autobiography. He assumed Hughes was such a recluse he would get away with it. Then he got hit with a lawsuit. CNN are probably making this whole thing up, quotes and all, and expecting that the "reclusive" Pynchon won't respond. And he probably wouldn't waste his time on them even if he saw this. Probably get a kick out of it, even.
@alienbaroque hey i liked your comment, just want to ask though, "americans?" i hope you're generalizing here as a joke, cos otherwise, come on. the weird and disturbing "american public" stereotype is not all inclusive, i promise you. there are many of us here who are perfectly sane and valid beings like yourself, and also laugh at the creepiness of media culture. cheers.
People need to calm down. People get so obsessed about little matters. CNN has every right to seek out Pynchon and in the end decided to not reveal the recluse's identity. Pynchon's "wish" to be a recluse is a gimmick, nothing more, nothing less.
If you had watched the video entirely, you would have seen that he said to them that "recluse" is a code word for "doesn't want to talk to reporters". He is not a recluse. He lives in NYC. He goes outside. He just doesn't make interviews. Which is his right. Not a gimmick.
Doesn't this man owe anything to his contributors? Maybe just one book signing to say "thank you for the food and the fame"? If its a phobia then okay.. but he couldn't even tweet a "thank you"? Oh well.. we all have our thing. I haven't read everything of his..but I will say thank you for Doc Sportello - I enjoyed the book and the film. And now I'm on to the crying of lot 49. ... where you at?
Writing really dense, fun silly novels full of intriguing mystery and paranoia isn't enough for you? You said thank you by buying his books. He said thank you by writing more quality books.
The man doesn’t waste a word so for that I’m thankful. I don’t need to know what he looks like. It’s highly unlikely I’ll ever meet him anyway. As long as he keeps entertaining me then I’ll keep reading. So far I’ve finished Slow Learner (probably his worst but understandably so since they were his early stuff when he was figuring himself out), The Crying of Lot 49 and Vineland but taking a break for now. It will likely be months before I start Gravity’s Rainbow. I see months of frustration trying to get through it once I start. I’m sure it’s an amazing story but his overwriting causes my mind to zone out sometimes and with a story like that, I don’t feel like I’m quite up to it just yet.
I feel like Thomas Pynchon could write a novel about peoples search for him and by the end of the book we question whether he actually existed in the first place.
+Sam kells I think he already did it. Read Lot of 49, for example, and you will find great analogies.
He did this on "V.", which was surprisingly his first novel
Yeah, if anything it's in reverse: he published the novel, refused to do publicity for it, and later began to embrace the enigma status the media put on him, leading to a public persona that bears obvious comparison to the mysterious figure he wrote about in the first place.
A fine posthumous novel for him!
Kind of like his own version of Waiting For Gadot.
IN CYBERSPACE, Pynchon is a popular subject of discussion!
We should start referring to the Internet as the Cyberspace again
good work typing parrot.
Mark Fisher kept calling the internet cyberspace right into the mid 2010s, but apparently cyberspace is actually a better descriptor of websites and social media than just calling it the broad "internet".
Even a portrait of the man wouldn't be helpful thanks to this 240p standard definition.
God people who say things like this are tedious beyond belief.
Peter Woods That must be a very interesting type of tediousness...
lol
The whole world and life itself is tedious to Peter Woods
@@peterwoods83 He took the words right out of my mouth. Is this guy tedious, or what?
This story should be about how fucking brilliant Mason & Dixon is instead of this silliness
I just saw him today.
That's exactttly what He would say... -- "Get him boyz !"
"In a very obLIKE way..."
Thomas Pynchon is the short, brunette woman in the middle of the screen @3:34. He doesn't appear in visual images because the unique silica crystal composition of his epidermis, acquired as a result of the misapplication of an experimental Johnson and Johnson talcum product being tested as a high heat friction dispersal agent during his employment at Boeing, causes him to appear blurred in photo emulsions and pixilated in motion picture films and videos. People who have seen him in person describe him as looking somewhat like a Julia Set.
This paragraph feels like it sums up about half of gravitys rainbow
@@ghostyfoot just add a cheerful/vulgar song and you've summed up the other half
For me, as well as for many others, the mystery surrounding the man lends tremendously not only to our perception of him but to his works as well. It is fascinating to imagine/try to comprehend the undoubtedly extraordinary mind responsible for such complex, intellectually rich novels as have been attributed to it, without the stigma of confining it to an image. We have his novels: what more could anyone need?
He was a guest star in the Simpsons.
cyber space mates, its here. this is the future
when is the past?
Wonderful stuff, a-and I thank you.
He's the guy in the red baseball cap.
delete this
why?
yup, hes in INHERENT VICE too briefly
100%. They singled him out and used a shot where he quickly disappears behind the stalk of a streetlamp. That's him, and he looks uncomfortable being out in public too, so I imagine this was shortly after he got ambushed while walking his son home from school. Scumbags that did that. I have to imagine it's a psychological disorder of his, writers are usually peculiar people and its not uncommon for them to have phobias and mental conditions. Not that he's crazy or strange, just that cameraphobia is a real thing.
Pynchon wasn't Tinasky. We pretty much know that now. But this report is as old as some of the letters, so it makes sense they said so.
I always wanted to know what Thomas Pynchon looked like through a potato.
"Should [Pynchon's] control extend beyond the printed page?" -- What, to lead a life free of harassment by paparazzi? Perish the thought!
/sarcasm
@MeowthRocket The guy in the red baseball cap was identified as Pynchon in a BBC clip a few years ago.
That's right, CNN. Mention every damn thing you can find about Pynchon's life except for the important part: His books.
Thanks, I've been wanting to see this report.
"But should that control extend beyond the printed page?"
CNN. Always asking the tough, tough questions.
do i look like i know what a jpeg is?
You're all wrong. It's the guy with the red ballcap at 3:23.
Wow. Is he also a writer?
Pretty cool that a writer has the ability to be anonymous unlike so many other art forms. McCarthy and Salinger were basically the same way.
3:22 red cap with moustache
gram4neil "Sixty year-old author" at 3:18.
+gram4neil yup
yup he appears in Inherent Vice too and looks exactly like this
No, that's Michael Moore.
@@tonywords6713 at what point in the film
Plot twist: turns out you're Thomas Pynchon.
I wonder how many people would have bought his books if he wasn't such an enigma. Of course he's a great writer, but still...bizarre 700page novels rarely become bestsellers. I'm not saying it's a scheme, just that it's strange and says something about our culture
The Crying of Lot 49 brought me here school assignment
I wish I had an assignment that cool
@@groundedgameplayx trust me you don't lol it's too confusing and complicated
It's the guy in the red baseball hat. I figured it was that specific shot before watching this clip because as a television news photographer and editor there is absolutely no other reason to use the shot.
Think about it. At this point in the story they are making a point of showing how he blends into the 'normal' crowd. The guy who is presumably Pynchon, is in the shot for such a short time that there really is no other reason to use it.
Definitely. That individual also looks similar to the man they photographed holding hands with his young child in NY years ago. I also se a resemblance to the few newer pictures that came out recently showing a much older Pynchon.
Was my guess too, before reading your comment. That cap man is out of place and the hat is too hide-y and his overbite is still prominent.
In the documentary Thomas Pynchon: A Journey Into the Mind of P.
a jurnalist told that the guy in the red cap might be Thomas Pynchon himself: 3:22
All 4 pixels?
I really do think that it is him based on the view candid photos I have seen around online.
@@louisskulnik7390 Yeah, there's a paparazzi shot of him from around that time with the same hair and mustache.
kiitos
I have good reason to believe he's writing low-profile releases under a silly pseudonym and living in the Pacific Northwest as of Fall 2011. As in, the guy I spoke to HAD to be him even though he never gave his real name.
Interesting. Could you point me towards one of these low profile pieces? I would be interested in reading them...
@@Threetails Haha! Lol. Thanks for the response after 9 years. You're a scholar and a gentleman. 👍🏻
Is there a better quality version of this? Because it's such poor resolution that I can't see the face of the guy people claim he is....
3:23 Red baseball cap. Hiya Ruggles!
I really, really want to read "Wanda Tinasky's" burn on Alice Walker. Are the letters archived anywhere online?
How do you correctly pronounce "Pynchon"? I've heard it as both "Pin-chon" and "Pinchun".
Pineshone
Flumbersand
Most writers come off as arrogant and snide in interviews so maybe Pynchon is wise to not do them. All I know is I'm 100 pages into Gravity's Rainbow and all I have to say is WTF?
Thomas Pynchon, contact me.
@dogstar7 Which clip??
I have a feeling that the guy at 3:23 is him. Its the shortest cut. And hes dressed like he doesn't want to be noticed.
>tfw this is 17 years old
Sweet repave photo my man
Black guy at 3:37. Hiya Pynchon Blacko!
Garbo said, I want to b left alone. Big difference.
Pinch-ON
He sounds like Spiderman.
The potato level of video quality really doesn’t help. I guess we’ll never know.
red cap
One dislike? Gotta be him, yo
He is my father.
3:26 - Guy in white cap. That's him for sure.
Pynchon wearing a MAGA hat!!!!
I saw him!
Thomas “Bacon” so to speak.
Pynchon is at 3:20 in the video - a 70 year old man with a mustache.
No, he’s not bald.
is it really him?
This is not news. This is stalking.
@dogstar7 How do ya know it's him??
From Guyland, wtf.
he’s in the striped shirt with the walking stick
@dogstar7 Thereby making it true? I respect the BBC, too, but I still need more than their say-so.
@dogstar7 Ruggles?
Pynchon at 3:23
it's 3:26. look at how the old man with the beige hat looks at the camera and then when the van passes in front of him he appears suddenly on the right side
all while looking at the camera...
pynchon himself is american
Salinger a recluse too til the end.
Hahaha he's done it.
It's pronounced "pin-chawn", not "pinchin".
Thomas Pynch-yawn.
red hat?
Hey
Check out the end of this video.... CNN video analyis in the last 10 minutes. ruclips.net/video/2rnIaQlFs4c/видео.html Says it is the guy in the red baseball cap starting at 3:22.
Americans are funny. They believe that just because they buy your book they own the rights to your soul. Probably because they don't have one of their own.
i remember that pynchon guy, he used to dress like a bum, real loser this guy, he lived in my neighborhood back in 63' and i was the candyman around the neighbordhood and he always came over...asking for junk, begging for money..... and i give him what he needed to stay alive, and he started to sell himself on the street and i think that drastically affected his writing (that was horrible all along around that time)
CNN is playing a cute game here...WEEEE know who he is and have his picture but Where's Waldo Pynchon...? Which begs the questions, Why would Thomas Pynchon care about CNN, and what dilettante reporter could track him down or identify him? Utterly ridiculous, but definitely worthy of CNN
Soren Aleksander
I think it's a pretty funny joke, almost certainly of Pynchon's own design: Thomas Pynchon, Legendary Author, J.D. Salinger of His Generation, is totally indistinguishable from any other Joe Blow on the street of New York. Because, duh, of course he is.
He doesn't care about CNN. He doesn't want them to use the fruits of their spying. And he's obviously the man with the red cap: the only person who's filmed alone.
That was my initial feeling as well. I'd like something more substantial. In today's world it requires much more effort to not be photographed, which is why I'm surprised he bothers.
Reminds me of the guy who faked a Howard Hughes autobiography. He assumed Hughes was such a recluse he would get away with it. Then he got hit with a lawsuit. CNN are probably making this whole thing up, quotes and all, and expecting that the "reclusive" Pynchon won't respond. And he probably wouldn't waste his time on them even if he saw this. Probably get a kick out of it, even.
uh, I thought JD Salinger was the 'Greta Garbo' of literature.
3:29 The old balding man, a little thin, in a suit and tie and carrying documents or a booklet in his left hand. I believe that is Thomas Pynchon!
Wha?
Probably at 3:15 a guy with the glasses and a pack
Figures.
White Amy White Dorothy Taylor Robert
@alienbaroque hey i liked your comment, just want to ask though, "americans?" i hope you're generalizing here as a joke, cos otherwise, come on. the weird and disturbing "american public" stereotype is not all inclusive, i promise you. there are many of us here who are perfectly sane and valid beings like yourself, and also laugh at the creepiness of media culture. cheers.
Who gives a shit ..... oh wait
People need to calm down. People get so obsessed about little matters. CNN has every right to seek out Pynchon and in the end decided to not reveal the recluse's identity. Pynchon's "wish" to be a recluse is a gimmick, nothing more, nothing less.
If you had watched the video entirely, you would have seen that he said to them that "recluse" is a code word for "doesn't want to talk to reporters". He is not a recluse. He lives in NYC. He goes outside. He just doesn't make interviews. Which is his right. Not a gimmick.
Doesn't this man owe anything to his contributors? Maybe just one book signing to say "thank you for the food and the fame"? If its a phobia then okay.. but he couldn't even tweet a "thank you"? Oh well.. we all have our thing. I haven't read everything of his..but I will say thank you for Doc Sportello - I enjoyed the book and the film. And now I'm on to the crying of lot 49. ... where you at?
Writing really dense, fun silly novels full of intriguing mystery and paranoia isn't enough for you? You said thank you by buying his books. He said thank you by writing more quality books.
The man doesn’t waste a word so for that I’m thankful. I don’t need to know what he looks like. It’s highly unlikely I’ll ever meet him anyway. As long as he keeps entertaining me then I’ll keep reading. So far I’ve finished Slow Learner (probably his worst but understandably so since they were his early stuff when he was figuring himself out), The Crying of Lot 49 and Vineland but taking a break for now. It will likely be months before I start Gravity’s Rainbow. I see months of frustration trying to get through it once I start. I’m sure it’s an amazing story but his overwriting causes my mind to zone out sometimes and with a story like that, I don’t feel like I’m quite up to it just yet.
Just for anyone who needs it, Pynchon is the bald headed white guy in the dark shirt with a scruffy beard @3:21.
He’s the guy in the red baseball cap at 3:23
@@servo90 no, he’s the man I pointed out. His face is quite distinguishable.
One dislike? Gotta be him, yo