author biography
Thomas Pynchon, author of Gravity's Rainbow and seven other acclaimed novels, is undoubtedly a pioneer of the post modernist literary movement and a truly unique artist. In 1937, Pynchon was born in Glen Cove, New York, and first began his venture into writing during his contributions to a school newspaper, where he worked under several false names. Pynchon graduated from Oyster Bay High School in 1953 at the age of sixteen, where he received the Julia L. Thurston Award, proclaiming his excellence in English studies. Obtaining a scholarship to Cornell University, Pynchon studied engineering and physics; however, he joined the U.S Navy after only two years of tutorship. Two years later, Pynchon left the Navy and returned to Cornell, where he graduated in 1959 with a Bachelors degree in arts. This is when he met a fellow writer and lifelong friend, Richard Farine, of whom Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow would be dedicated to. He then moved to Greenwich Village in hopes of starting a career in writing fiction, but he soon left for Seattle and became a technical writer for Boeing Airlines. It was 1963 when, at the age of twenty-six, Pynchon published his first novel, titled V., which won the William Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year. V. also included a unique writing style, which would become a prime factor in the rest of his literary career. Pynchon's follow up to this was his 1966 novella, The Crying of Lot 49, which also won a slew of awards and garnered him the attention of critics and readers alike. After writing a short story for The New York Times, Pynchon began working on his magnum opus, which would take him nearly seven years to complete. In 1973, the epic Gravity's Rainbow was first published, which, despite its controversial material and narrative flow, was adored by most critics, and won the National Book Award. It was also selected to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, but was deemed "obscene" and "unreadable" by the Pulitzer advisory board. Pynchon's followup to his masterpiece was a collection of short stories released in 1984, and his third novel, Vineland, which was a disappointment to critics and fans. However, Pynchon won the MacArthur grant award in 1987, where he received $50,000 from the foundation. A literary comeback occurred upon the publication of his next novel, 1997's Mason & Dixon, which Pynchon had been working on for over twenty years. In the 2000's and in his sixties and seventies, Pynchon wrote two more literary works, Against the Day and Inherent Vice, the latter being adapted to the big screen by Academy Award nominated director Paul Thomas Anderson. In 2013, Pynchon released his latest novel, Bleeding Edge, which incorporates the internet and other modern elements into his zany writing style ("Thomas Pynchon Biography"). Much of Pynchon's personal life is unknown the the public and to the media, for he lead an extremely private lifestyle. There are no known pictures of him since the 1950's, and he has never accepted an award in person. His whereabouts are currently unknown, and it is believed that he lives as a nomad, travelling across the American southwest ("Thomas Pynchon"). And while his work inspired great entertainment in some and disgust in others, his novels clearly upset the norms of modern literature and engaged audiences for many generations, with an exceptional body of work spanning fifty years.
Other novels
- V.
- The Crying of Lot 49
- Vineland
- Mason & Dixon
- Against the Day
- Inherent Vice
- Bleeding Edge