Thomas Pynchon's Unknown Novel

Between Gravity's Rainbow (1973) and Vineland (1990) Thomas Pynchon officially published only a book of early short stories (Slow Learner, 1984). However, under the pseudonym "Pyro Atomic Bomb" (supposedly itself the pseudonym of "Marion A. Feany", who is also a character in the novel) he also published the novel From Asininity to Assassination, which purports to report on the 1974 write-in Presidential campaign of the deranged Oregonian Dean Templeton. Photographs of the supposed presidential candidate, the supposed author, other characters in the book (some of whom seem to be real people), and various locations in Eastern Oregon give a degree of "verisimilitude" to the book, which was produced toward the beginning of Pynchon's long reclusive period. (It was also during this period that Pynchon may have written the hoax Tinasky letters, which have more recently been ascribed to an obscure beatnik murderer, himself a Gaddis / Pynchon obsessive, who committed suicide in 1988.)

Googling turns up no references to Feany or to Pyro Atomic Bomb except in listings of the book, and only one short reference, in a 1972 article by Robert Sherrill, to "Dean Templeton, who was running as a right-wing candidate for President on the promise to build a bridge from Alaska to Russia." It seems likely that Pynchon used Sherrill's article as a jumping-off point for his 1981 novel about the 1976 Presidential race, though the possibility cannot be ruled out that the reference to Templeton in Sherrill's piece was a hoax intended to help Pynchon set up his later novel. (Sherrill is not known as a hoaxer, but Martha Sherrill, possibly his wife or daughter, was responsible for the 1996 Allegra Coleman hoax.)

Like many of Pynchon's works, Asininity is studded with obscure words and coinages, often of scientific origin. In the first four pages, for example, we see patulous, macrostomia, podex,  megaprosopous, and grume (the last of these being, in my opinion a usable and useful word). In these few pages we also see the coinage  insatispassional, the misspelling supererrogatory,  many rare but easy-to-understand words such as megacephalic,  and the idiosyncratic use of the word verisimilitude to mean simply "right" or "OK".

Important events in Dean Templeton's campaign take place in Templeton, California and the nearly non-existent town of Templeton, Oregon, and there are references to actual Templetons of history as well as the medieval Templars. Granted that our Presidential candidate is insane, these touches seem more Pynchonesque than verisimilitudinous, and a more careful reading of this book will presumably turn up many more such touches.

A couple of passages:

It all ends up being a sort of exercise in the author function. Without his name attached, Pynchon's book has not done well: "Today: #3,563,301 in Books". Based on my one-chapter sample plus some skimming, the book seems well worth reading -- it gets hairier, more Templars get dragged in, and after he's been assassinated Templeton continues to play a role as a ghost. If it turns out not to be by Pynchon at all, nothing will be lost -- even then, it would be a better choice to read it than to read a bad book by a name author.

CAVEAT

When I first saw this Amazon review of From Asininity to Assassination, I had already noticed the Pynchonesque quality of the book, but the priority must go to the Amazon reviewer. In a private communication, he rather doubted that the book is really by Pynchon.

LEADS

The Herbert A Templeton foundation disburses funds, but there is no other evidence of its existence -- in this it resembles Pynchon himself. Herbert A Templeton was an Oregon businessman who made some gifts in his own name.

Templetongate (after the Heinlein novel)

John Templeton Foundation: opponents of Intelligent design

Martha Sherrill hoax

|

I am emersonj at gmail dot com.

Original materials copyright John J Emerson

Return to Idiocentrism

jjmrsnx