Thomas Pynchon - Man of Mystery
Excerpts from the TP - MoM Timeline:
1967/8: Played electric jug with the 13th Floor Elevators on tour in support of their second album Easter Everywhere. Backstage after the show, Pynchon would introduce himself as “Javier Clandestino” and entertain the fans with tales about his life before joining up with the band when he was raising chinchillas in the Cordillera de la Costa and training them in psychological warfare for the CIA.
1972: Conducted a series of tests over seven nights, from approximately 1:00 am to 5:00 am, in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven convenience store, with the assistance of the night manager, to determine whether or not a shuttle made entirely out of Twinkies could withstand the heat of the Earth’s atmosphere and travel in space.
1975: Posing as “Wood Benchley”, “cousin” to writer Peter Benchley, Pynchon had a small role in the film Jaws but the footage was sadly left on the cutting room floor. He played the character of “Broderick Porcine III”, a third-generation hot dog vendor who operated a stand on the New England beach where much of the action in the film takes place. In Pynchon’s main scene he actually had several lines of dialogue. His character, Porcine III, prepares a hot dog for Police Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider, and quotes a few lines from Moby Dick adding, “Then again, ol’ Captain Ahab never tasted my grandfather’s wiener.” Brody laughs but before he can accept the hot dog, he’s interrupted by cries of “Shark!”
