Editing Thomas Pynchon (section)

===2000s===
[[File:Pynchon-Simpsons-001.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Cartoon frame showing a man with a paper bag over his head talking into a mobile phone. The bag has a large question mark printed on it and the man stands in front of a large illuminated sign in block letters which says 'THOMAS PYNCHON'S HOUSE – COME ON IN'|Pynchon depicted in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Diatribe of a Mad Housewife]]". His ''Simpsons'' appearances are some of the few occasions that Pynchon's voice has been broadcast in the media.]]
Responding to the image which has been manufactured in the media over the years, Pynchon made two cameo animated appearances on the television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in 2004, a show which he is a fan of. The first occurs in the episode "[[Diatribe of a Mad Housewife]]", in which [[Marge Simpson]] becomes a novelist. He plays himself, with a paper bag over his head, and provides a blurb for the back cover of Marge's book, speaking in a broad Long Island accent: "Here's your quote: Thomas Pynchon loved this book, almost as much as he loves cameras!" He then starts yelling at passing cars: "Hey, over here, have your picture taken with a reclusive author! Today only, we'll throw in a free autograph! But, wait! There's more!"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_film_tv.html |title=Pynchon References on TV |publisher=themodernword.com |access-date=December 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130115328/http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_film_tv.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://themodernword.com/pynchon/ketzan_simpsons.htm |title=Literary Titan Thomas Pynchon Breaks 40-Year Silence&nbsp;– on ''The Simpsons''! |first=Eric |last=Ketzan |publisher=themodernword.com |access-date=December 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311101734/http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/ketzan_simpsons.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2011 }}</ref> In his second appearance, in "[[All's Fair in Oven War]]", Pynchon's dialogue consists entirely of [[pun]]s on his novel titles ("These wings are ''V''-licious! I'll put this recipe in ''The Gravity's Rainbow Cookbook'', right next to 'The Frying of [[Latke]] 49'."). The cartoon representation of Pynchon reappears in a third, non-speaking cameo, as a guest at the fictional WordLoaf convention depicted in the 18th season episode "[[Moe'N'a Lisa]]". The episode first aired on November 19, 2006, the Sunday before Pynchon's sixth novel, ''Against the Day'', was released. According to [[Al Jean]] on the 15th season DVD episode commentary, Pynchon wanted to do the series because his son was a big fan.

During pre-production of "All's Fair in Oven War", Pynchon faxed one page from the script to producer [[Matt Selman]] with several handwritten edits to his lines. Of particular emphasis was Pynchon's outright refusal to utter the line "No wonder [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] is such a fat-ass." Pynchon's objection apparently had nothing to do with the salty language as he explained in a footnote to the edit, "... Homer is my role model and I can't speak ill of him."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Krumboltz|first1=Mike|title=Thomas Pynchon Draws the Line at Making Fun of Homer Simpson's Big Butt|date=September 4, 2014|url=https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/thomas-pynchon-simpsons-175632030.html|publisher=Yahoo TV|access-date=September 5, 2014|archive-date=September 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905123522/https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/thomas-pynchon-simpsons-175632030.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Selman|first1=Matt|title=Matt Selman|url=https://twitter.com/mattselman/status/505082780561051649|website=Matt Selman's Twitter Account|publisher=Twitter|access-date=September 5, 2014|quote=The fax sent to us by Thomas Pynchon with his jokes written on the script page|archive-date=September 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902224550/https://twitter.com/mattselman/status/505082780561051649|url-status=live}}</ref>

In celebration of the centenary of [[George Orwell]]'s birth, Pynchon wrote a new foreword to Orwell's ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''. The introduction presents a brief biography of Orwell as well as a reflection on some of the critical responses to ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Pynchon also offers his own reflection in the introduction that "what is perhaps [most] important, indeed necessary, to a working prophet, is to be able to see deeper than most of us into the human soul."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Orwell|first1=George|title=Nineteen Eighty-Four|date=2003|publisher=Plume, Harcourt & Brace|location=New York|isbn=978-0-452-28423-4|url=https://archive.org/details/nineteeneightyfo00orwe_1}}</ref>

In July 2006, [[Amazon.com]] created a page showing an upcoming 992-page, untitled, Thomas Pynchon novel. A description of the soon-to-be published novel appeared on Amazon purporting to be written by Pynchon himself. The description was taken down, prompting speculation over its authenticity, but the blurb was soon back up along with the title of Pynchon's new novel ''Against the Day''.

Shortly before ''Against the Day'' was published, Pynchon's prose appeared in the program for "''[[The Daily Show]]'': Ten Fu@#ing Years (The Concert)", a retrospective on [[Jon Stewart]]'s comedy-news broadcast ''The Daily Show''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_dailyshow.html |title=Pynchon References on TV |publisher=themodernword.com |access-date=December 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130114945/http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_dailyshow.html |archive-date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref>

On December 6, 2006, Pynchon joined a campaign by many other major authors to clear [[Ian McEwan]] of plagiarism charges by sending a [[typewritten]] letter to his British publisher, which was published in the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' newspaper.<ref name=reynolds2006>{{cite news|last1=Reynolds|first1=Nigel|title=Recluse speaks out to defend McEwan|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1536152/Recluse-speaks-out-to-defend-McEwan.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1536152/Recluse-speaks-out-to-defend-McEwan.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=September 26, 2014|work=The Telegraph|date=December 6, 2006}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Pynchon's 2009 [[YouTube]] promotional teaser for the novel ''Inherent Vice''<ref>{{cite web |title=Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U |website=YouTube | date=August 4, 2009 |publisher=Penguin Books USA |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231214633/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U |url-status=live }}</ref> is the second time a recording of his voice has been released to mainstream outlets (the first being his appearances on ''The Simpsons'').<ref name=kurutz2009 />