Reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon has donated his literary archive to the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., exciting passionate fans who've long thrilled at periodic revelations about the mysterious writer.
The 85-year-old author, who has largely shunned reporters and photographers and released few personal artifacts over the years, donated 48 boxes and 70 linear feet of material to the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, according to media reports.
Beginning in late 2023, scholars and Pynchon aficionados can visit the Los Angeles-area library to study typescripts and drafts of each novel, handwritten notes, correspondence and research material. After years of hiding from public view, Pynchon has decided to reveal his creative process.
Pynchon's early novels "V," "The Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow" drew an intense following in the 1960s and early '70s among predominantly male readers, mesmerized by the author's historical references, encyclopedic scientific knowledge, conspiratorial plots and iconic characters. Like fellow counterculture novelists Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, J.P. Donleavy, and Philip K. Dick, Pynchon was venerated as much as rock stars.
Later novels like "Mason and Dixon" and "Vineland" received less acclaim, although hard-core followers heralded the books. Pynchon's 2009 comic detective novel "Inherent Vice" was entertaining, reaching a more popular audience.
Pynchon's son, Jackson Pynchon, said the author chose the Huntington because of its impressive math, science, aerospace and map collections. The library's literary holdings include Shakespeare, Chaucer and Joyce manuscripts, a Gutenberg Bible, and archives from modern writers.
The writer also has a California connection: He wrote much of "Gravity's Rainbow" while living in Manhattan Beach, the setting of "Inherent Vice."
Will Pynchon reveal himself further? While his archive will bring years of scholarly and biographical discoveries, Pynchon apparently will remain secluded in his private world.
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