Courtesy of Thomas Pynchon himself (and Amazon.)

Oh if I could just get to Poland…

Of Pynchon And Vice: America’s Inherent Other (International Pynchon Week), June 09-12, 2010, Lublin, Poland

I’ve sadly fallen far behind on things thans to some traveling and a backlog of work.  Here’s some new links that have been sent my way while I’ve been gone from the internets.

First the Inherent Vice trailer from Penguin Press:

Of course the question is who did the narration…

Next is a map of Pynchon’s LA from Wired.

More as I get my act together.

[Edit - I lost my mind and forgot to credit Shane and Austin for the links.  Sorry.]

From Carolyn Kellogg at the LA Times.  I haven’t had time to read it yet.  Thoughts later.

Louis Menand gives us a glimpse into Inherent Vice over at the New Yorker by using Chandler as the base comparitor.  Given the history of detectives, and not just the literary one, it’s worth asking if hardboiled and honorable is really the status quo.

I’m probably behind in finding out about this (stupid grad school), but apparently Pynchon has a new book coming out next year called Inherent Vice.  From the description I found here:

It’s been awhile since Doc Sportello has seen his ex-girlfriend. Suddenly out of nowhere she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. Easy for her to say. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” except that this one usually leads to trouble. Despite which he soon finds himself drawn into a bizarre tangle of motives and passions whose cast of characters includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, a tenor sax player working undercover, an ex-con with a swastika tattoo and a fondness for Ethel Merman, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists.

In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there . . . or . . . if you were there, then you . . . or, wait, is it . . .

Obviously a bit of a switch up from Against the Day, but given the character of Lew Basnight, I can see a certain continuation of theme happening as he goes into a detective novel.

I can’t wait to play spot the Bodine.

If you’ve ever read Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, I suggest you go here and follow the link.

Byron?