Customer Reviews

The letters of Wanda Tinasky

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Following reading Don Foster's Author Unknown, In Search of Anonymous & also being a Pynchon reader, I was intrigued to see the original letters & have a look at what caused the rumours. The A4 format of the book & cheap paper are a poor start. So too are the cloying sketches of a derelict with a shopping cart full of Pynchon's books. And the typeface is horrible too. It is clear from the way the book looks and feels that we are dealing with amateurs. The footnotes by TR Factor when not stating the obvious, are striking by their ignorance. Also the tone of desperation, citing the briefest moments in the letters and somehow correlating these to obscure & passing references in Pynchon's fiction, is absurd. However, if one can ignore all this and get to the meat of the text, you are left with the fine writing of a man with a mission to annoy & highlight the foolishness of Mendocino county residents such as the abominable Factor. I am retyping the text of the letters and trashing the book.

Despite Ms. Factor's disparaging review of Don Foster's literary detective work, I highly recommend his book "Author Unknown," which methodically explains why "Wanda Tinasky" could not be Pynchon.

Yes, this book of letters has many literary and pop culture references but if Thomas Pynchon has denied authorship of these letters then shouldn't Pynchon devotees just accept that there is no ghost to be found here? Enjoy Mason & Dixon and his other fine novels and let Wanda enjoy her fifteen minutes.