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Slow Learner: Early Stories by Thomas Pynchon β€” book cover
Fiction, American Fiction, World Literature, Fiction Subjects

Slow Learner: Early Stories

by Thomas Pynchon
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Overview

Thomas Pynchon's literary career was launched not with the release of his widely acclaimed first novel, V., but with the publication in literary magazines of the five stories collected here. In his introduction to Slow Learner the author reviews his early work with disarming candor and recalls the American cultural landscape of the early post-Beat era in which the stories were written. Time magazine described this introductory essay as "Pynchon's first public gesture toward autobiography."

Synopsis

Thomas Pynchon's literary career was launched not with the release of his widely acclaimed first novel, V., but with the publication in literary magazines of the five stories collected here. In his introduction to Slow Learner the author reviews his early work with disarming candor and recalls the American cultural landscape of the early post-Beat era in which the stories were written. Time magazine described this introductory essay as "Pynchon's first public gesture toward autobiography."

Library Journal

Published in 1984, this contains five of the author's early storieswritten between 1958 and 1964along with an introduction.

About the Author, Thomas Pynchon

A huge modern influence, Thomas Pynchon's reputation as a contemporary literary giant is only enhanced by his adamant reclusivity (the photo shown here is one of the few of him ever to be published). His prose is so intimidatingly dense, his novels so thematically grand, that he presents a rewarding challenge to his readers and his would-be protegees.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Published in 1984, this contains five of the author's early storieswritten between 1958 and 1964along with an introduction.

Michael Wood

How extremely good the stories are...how quickly they carry us into their scruffy, variegated, wonderfully imagined world. -- The New York Times Book Review

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Funny and wise enough to charm the gravity from a rainbow...all five of the pieces have unusual narrative vigor and inventiveness. -- The New York Times

Edward Mendelson

The authentic work of a major novelist makes better reading than the mature productions of a dozen minor ones....Readers who discovered Pynchon's stories in little magazines in the late 1950s would have seen in them a bright young talent. Readers who discover them now will find an exhilerating spectacle of greatness discovering its power.

Book Details

Published
April 1, 1985
Publisher
Little, Brown & Company
Pages
208
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780316724432

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