Thomas Pynchon has a new 1,085-page novel out–Against the Day–his first book in nine years.
Publisher’s Weekly says, “Now pushing 70, Pynchon remains the archpoet of death from above, comedy from below and sex from all sides. His new book will be bought and unread by the easily discouraged, read and reread by the cult of the difficult.”
“The International Publication of Book Publishing and Book Selling” also reports on retailers reactions to the new book. Several held midnight release parties last night.
“This is a big deal for us because I’m deeply in love with Pynchon’s work,” said Charles Hauther, buyer at Skylight Books in Los Angeles. “The only other midnight sale we’ve done was for Harry Potter, and I thought, if Harry Potter can have one, then Thomas Pynchon deserves one, too.”
“There has been a huge amount of bookseller enthusiasm about this book,” said Tracy Locke, Penguin Press’s associate publisher. “Thomas Pynchon is living the fiction writer’s ultimate dream, to be able to write his books and put them out there without having to promote them himself. It will be in all the holiday programs and in front of stores. It’s slated to be reviewed in every major outlet in the country.”
Pynchon, famous for being a recluse, is also the author of Gravity’s Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, V, Mason & Dixon and Vineland.