Books: Shadowy Presence

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Does any of this matter? As far as Pynchon's books are concerned, no. Yet in this celebrity-besotted era, the spectacle of someone avoiding exposure is naturally intriguing. And Pynchon's fiction, with its emphasis on suspected conspiracies and coded significances, makes him seem a dandy candidate for a guru. If he ever went public, he could be buried in acolytes overnight. Which is a fine reason for Pynchon to stay right where he is, in enviable possession of a mystique far bigger than any single, flawed, vulnerable human. P.G.