Editing Thomas Pynchon (section)

===1970s and 1980s===
After the publication and success of ''Gravity's Rainbow'', interest mounted in finding out more about the identity of the author. At the 1974 National Book Awards ceremony, the president of [[Viking Press]], [[Thomas Guinzburg|Tom Guinzberg]], arranged for double-talking comedian [[Irwin Corey|"Professor" Irwin Corey]] to accept the prize on Pynchon's behalf.<ref name=royster2005 /> Many of the assembled guests had no idea who Corey was and had never seen the author, so they assumed it was Pynchon himself on the stage delivering Corey's trademark torrent of rambling, pseudo-scholarly verbiage.<ref name=corey1974>{{cite web|last1=Corey|first1=Irwin|title=Transcript of Remarks Given at the National Book Awards, Thursday, April 18, 1974|url=http://www.irwincorey.org/routines.html|access-date=October 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224035906/http://irwincorey.org/routines.html|archive-date=December 24, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Toward the end of Corey's address a [[Streaking|streaker]] ran through the hall, adding further to the confusion.

An article by [[John Batchelor]] published in the ''[[SoHo Weekly News]]'' in 1977 claimed that Pynchon was in fact [[J. D. Salinger]].<ref name=batchelor1976>{{cite news|last1=Batchelor|first1=J. C.|title=Thomas Pynchon is not Thomas Pynchon, or, This is End of the Plot Which Has No Name|work=[[SoHo Weekly News]]|date=April 22, 1976}}</ref> Pynchon's written response to this theory said that "some of it was true, but none of the interesting parts. Not bad. Keep trying."<ref name=tannerbook>{{cite book|last1=Tanner|first1=Tony|title=Thomas Pynchon|date=1982|isbn=978-0-416-31670-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/thomaspynchon00tann/page/18 18]|publisher=Methuen |url=https://archive.org/details/thomaspynchon00tann/page/18}}</ref><ref>"A SoHo Weekly News Who's Who," by Allan Wolper. https://sohomemory.org/a-soho-weekly-news-whos-who {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322213652/https://sohomemory.org/a-soho-weekly-news-whos-who |date=March 22, 2023 }}</ref>

Thereafter, the first piece to provide substantial information about Pynchon's personal life was a biographical account written by a former Cornell University friend, [[Jules Siegel]], and published in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine. In his article, Siegel reveals that Pynchon had a [[complex (psychology)|complex]] about his teeth and underwent extensive and painful reconstructive surgery, was nicknamed "Tom" at Cornell and attended [[mass (liturgy)|Mass]] diligently, acted as [[best man]] at Siegel's wedding, and that he later also had an affair with Siegel's wife. Siegel recalls Pynchon saying he did attend some of [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s lectures at Cornell but that he could hardly make out what Nabokov was saying because of his thick Russian accent. Siegel also records Pynchon's commenting: "Every weirdo in the world is on my wavelength", an observation borne out by the [[crank (person)|crankiness]] and [[zealot]]ry that has attached itself to his name and work in subsequent years.<ref name="siegel1977">{{cite news|last1=Siegel|first1=Jules|title=Who is Thomas Pynchon, and why did he take off with my wife?|work=Playboy|date=Mar 1977}}</ref>