*Early short stories by Thomas Pynchon, introduced by the author and
praised as an exhilarating spectacle of greatness discovering its powers
by the New Republic.
***Thomas Pynchon's literary career was launched not with the release of
his widely acclaimed first novel, V., but with the publication in
literary magazines of the five stories collected here. In his
introduction to Slow Learner, the author reviews his early work with
disarming candor and recalls the American cultural landscape of the
early post-Beat era in which the stories were written. Time magazine
described this introductory essay as Pynchon's first public gesture
toward autobiography.
**Funny and wise enough to charm the gravity from a rainbow...All five
of the pieces have unusual narrative vigor and inventiveness. --New
York Times
**