Slow Learner : Early Stories + Vineland - Softcover

Thomas Pynchon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316724424 ISBN 13: 9780316724425

Publisher: Little Brown & Company, 1985

Synopsis

A collection of the five stories that launched the outstanding American novelist's career includes an introductory essay in which he sketches the milieu in which he began writing. From the Noiseless Chatter blog): "In 1984, eleven years after Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon finally published something: a collection of other things he had already published. Slow Learner isn't that great; as a reading experience, you'd be hard pressed to do much worse. As a slow study of a young artist becoming a legendary one, though, it's unparalleled.By this point Pynchon had only released three novels, but his reluctance to speak about himself, make public appearances, provide interviews, or do anything else that established writers were supposed to do meant that a huge part of Slow Learner's value came from the brief introduction Pynchon provided [analyzing his work]. Spotlighting it here meant that people wouldn't miss its inclusion, and, certainly, it still stands as the book's highlight."

About this title

About the Author:

Thomas Pynchon was born in 1937. His books include V, Gravity's Rainbow, Vineland, Mason & Dixon, Against the Day, Inherent Vice, and Bleeding Edge.

Review:

All five of the pieces ... have unusual narrative vigor and inventiveness. Each establishes its own special mood ... and each contains its moments of Pynchonesque comedy.... -- The New York Times Book Review, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Brown & Company
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0316724424
• ISBN 13: 9780316724425
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 193