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THOMAS PYNCHON'S LETTERS | PAGE 2 OF 2_ What's shocking to publishing insiders is that an agent would betray a writer's confidence by selling his or her letters to a third party. "I was stunned when I heard this," said one well-known New York literary agent, who asked to remain anonymous. "I've never heard of an agent doing something like this, particularly with the letters of a living writer. Every agent I know has priceless letters like these from their authors, and they would never dream of selling them." One likely scenario is that the now-elderly Donadio, a well-known figure in the publishing world whose clients have included Robert Stone, simply needed the money. Another, however, is that she wished to extract a measure of revenge on Pynchon. Indeed, one of his final 1984 letters to her reads, "As of this date, you are no longer authorized to represent me or my work." It is signed, "Cordially, Thomas Pynchon." Regardless of her motives, Donadio has quickly become the Linda Tripp of the publishing set, guilty of very bad manners if not apparent illegality. As it happens, the Pynchon-Donadio letters aren't the first time that Pynchon's correspondence -- and in some cases, his alleged correspondence -- has sparked controversy. According to John M. Krafft, a Pynchon scholar who edits a newsletter called Pynchon Notes, there are already some of the author's bootlegged letters on the market. In 1990, a tiny press called Blown Litter published a selection of letters Pynchon had written to one of his editors, Corlies M. Smith. (The letters were stolen from Smith's files.) The book was titled "Of a Fond Ghoul," and according to Krafft, only 50 copies were printed. Like many other Pynchon scholars, who are deferential to their idol, Krafft hasn't sought out a copy of "Of a Fond Ghoul" -- primarily, he says, because Pynchon wouldn't want him to. "I won't say I'm not curious about them," Krafft says. "But I respect Pynchon's desire for privacy. My interest is primarily in the material that Pynchon wants his readers to see." More mysterious, to Pynchon scholars at any rate, are a bushel of letters sent in the mid-1980s to the Anderson Valley Advertiser, a small, hell-raising Northern California newspaper, by a woman named Wanda Tinasky. These cranky and wildly cerebral letters are believed by many to be Pynchon's own work. (He was almost certainly living in Northern California at the time, laboring on his 1990 novel "Vineland.") According to Scott McLemee's 1995 piece about the Tinasky letters in Lingua Franca, it wasn't until a selection of these letters was about to go to press that Pynchon, through his agent, finally denied authorship. Many in the Pynchon community, however, continue to believe that the Tinasky letters do indeed bear Pynchon's idiosyncratic stamp. Some of them, in fact, are hoping that the release of the Pynchon-Donadio letters will finally confirm their hunch. Among these scholars is a secretive female writer who works under the nom de plume TR Factor; she edited a 1995 volume titled "The Letters of Wanda Tinasky" (Vers Libre Press). "Do I think the new Pynchon letters will have any impact on the Tinasky letters? Absolutely!" Factor told Salon via e-mail. After scanning the excerpts in the Times, Factor is quick to single out similarities between the Tinasky missives and the letters to Donadio. "Wanda was an avid moviegoer," Factor notes, referring to Pynchon's dreams of writing film criticism for Esquire. Factor was also intrigued to learn, in the new Pynchon letters, that Pynchon had once sought a pre-publication blurb from Saul Bellow. According to the Times, Bellow's response was succinct: "Read it? Sure. Tout it? I doubt it." "That may explain," Factor says, "Wanda's referring to Bellow as 'that old Chicago hebe who got the Nobel Prize for literature.'" While these bits may not be particularly persuasive, Factor hopes that a review of the full texts of Pynchon's letters will prove the issue beyond doubt. To this end, Factor hopes to engage the services of Vassar Professor Donald Foster, the noted literary attributionist who outed Joe Klein as the author of "Primary Colors." Whether or not Factor and other Pynchon fans will have the chance to examine the new letters directly remains in some doubt. According to the Morgan Library's communications director, Glory Jones -- a Pynchonian name if there ever was one -- scholars will be able to view the letters only after submitting a written request along with a letter of recommendation, and only under the watchful eyes of two librarians. Nussbaum, Pynchon's lawyer, says he plans to meet with representatives of the library this week to see if the letters can be kept private. "There is a copyright issue here," Nussbaum said. "These letters cannot be reproduced or displayed." According to Nussbaum, Pynchon was aware that the Times was preparing to publish selections from letters. "Mr. Pynchon is a believer in the First Amendment," he said, "and he would not have tried to enjoin the Times from publishing those excerpts. What the Times did was, legally, within the bounds of fair use. What we're dealing with now is what's going to happen over the long haul." Many Pynchon scholars find themselves on the fence about the whole Pynchon-Donadio affair. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in these letters," says Clifford Mead, the author of "Thomas Pynchon: A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Material" (Dalkey Archive), which is regarded as the definitive Pynchon bibliography. "But I do respect his privacy, and I have no interest in being one of those scholars who treat him the way paparazzi treat other celebrities." Adds another Pynchon expert, Stephen Tomaske: "From everything I know about Thomas Pynchon, he seems like a nice guy, someone with above-average decency. Can't we just leave him alone?"
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