Who the hell is Thomas Pynchon? He's done his best to keep the world ignorant as to his face and his facts, but here and there things have slipped out, filtered through. We've attempted to compile as much as we could find out about the man, and brought our own speculations in as well. Pynchon himself, in the introduction to Slow Learner, says, "Somewhere I had come up with the notion that one's personal life had nothing to do with fiction, when the truth, as everyone knows, is nearly the direct opposite." Taking Pynchon at his word, we have noted resonaces between his works, philosophers and other authors, hoping to create an overall-though incomplete- profile of the man.

Just the facts, man

-the facts known about Pynchon's life and a link to Frequently Asked Questions

Known and Possible Influences

-what did Pynchon read, whom did he admire

Resonances

-Pynchonian thought in the world

Prophecy

- A comparison with White Noise and Pynchon as a prophet

Adventures in Etymology

- The most literate Pynchon sighting we've seen, by B.M.W. Schrapnel

[ To Pynchon Page ]