Pynchon Pals

Well, we’ve arrived at The Big One. Or, The First Big One, anyways. Join us -- again or for the first time -- as we puzzle out plots, diagram arcane organizational structures, and go long on bananas. Next time, Gravity’s Rainbow Episodes 1.8-1.13, or pp. 48-94 in the U.S. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. Show Notes:“Banana Breakfast,” by Tom Pynchon’s Liquor Cabinet “There Will Be Bananas,” by NPR’s Throughline podcast“Vintage Original Chiquita Banana 1940's Commercial Ads Complete Series!,” via YouTube“Bananas Don’t Taste Like They Used To. Here’s Why,” by Brandon Summers-Miller via EpicuriousThe Morrison shelter and other Battle of Britain era protections via the Royal Air Force Museum“Some Things that ‘Happen’ (More or Less) in Gravity’s Rainbow,” by Michael Davitt Bell. The simplest and most useful quick reference for the goings on in Gravity’s Rainbow we’ve found so far. Spoiler warning, obviously, for things we and maybe you haven’t read yet—and, less obviously, for references to things that will be (but aren’t yet) important.Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, racism, misogyny. ---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. 

Angels, dark and light, descend on Southern California, and we bid adieu to Arnold Snarb, I mean, Edna Mosh. Next time, Gravity’s Rainbow sections 1.1 through 1.9, or pp. 1-60 in the U.S. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. Show Notes:“The Simple Art of Murder,” by Raymond Chandler, online e-book via Faded Page. Thomas Pyncon’s introduction to Richard Fariña’s Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, via pynchon.pomona.edu. Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, suicide, antisemitism, pedophilia. ---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. 

The devil is in the details in this episode—or should we say, the demon? We follow Oedipa up north and into the entropic underground. Groovy… Next time, The Crying of Lot 49 Ch. 6. Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. Show Notes:Spoilers for Twin Peaks Season 2 around 2:31:50 to 2:32:05!Thomas Pynchon, in correspondence, on The Crying of Lot 49 as a “potboiler,” via Mel Gussow in the New York Times archive“The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump,” by Clifford Ando via Compact, on the Bayh–Dole Act and its implications for patents on government funded research“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” by Jorge Luis Borges, .pdf via University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign“Encuentro,” by Remedios Varo (1959) via the National Galleries of Scotland The “Batusi” in Batman (1966) via YouTubeProject OXYGAS (Dolphin Training) via the CIA online reading room“The dolphin who loved me: the Nasa-funded project that went wrong,” by Christopher Riley via The Guardian (or, the one about LSD trials on dolphins)Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, suicide, genocide, antisemitism---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. 

Move over Benny, Rachel, Stencil, and Paola, it’s time for a new book! Journeying into the swingin’ 60s, we talk on the phone, watch television, and even go to the theatre. Hey, wait a second, I know that kazoo tune…Next time, The Crying of Lot 49 Chs. 4-5. Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. Show Notes:“Embroidering the Earth's Mantle,” by Remedios Varo (1961) via ObeliskCovers for The Crying of Lot 49 via thomaspynchon.com The Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air via YouTubeDroodles by Roger Price (1953) via WikipediaContent warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland.

We hope you enjoy listening to this Q+A episode as much as we enjoyed making it! If so, you can now sign up to support the show via the brand new patreon.com/pynchonpals to get access to future Patreon-exclusive bonus episodes featuring Q+A’s, movie discussion, and more.   Next time, The Crying of Lot 49 Chs. 1-3. (Wow, a whole new book!)Show Notes:Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. 

Sydney Stencil’s in Valletta for one last job, and so are we. Sail on, sailor!Next time, V. Q+A. Last chance to send in questions on Bluesky or by email: if you’ve got one, we want to read it!Show Notes:St. Agatha’s Crypt, Catacombs & Museum, website“V.: Analysis of Major Characters,” by Victoria Price via EBSCO “The Mysterious Manicule,” by Keith Houston via Slate Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, body dysmorphia, suicide---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. 

Things lurk Behind the Curtain as we bid farewell to Benny and the gang. And time is running out to send in questions for our V. Q+A in the episode after next!Next time, V. Epilogue.Show Notes:Frank C. Stanley performs “Auld Lang Syne,” recorded 1910 on (now public domain) wax cylinder, released by the Indestructible Record Company, UC Santa Barbara Cylinder Audio ArchiveFamily Relationship of Taylor Swift, Singer and Songwriter, 9th cousin 2 times removed to Thomas Pynchon, American Novelist, FamousKin.com “The Feather Heist,” This American Life, WBEZ ChicagoContent warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, incest, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, suicide.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.

Happy Holidays from Pynchon Pals! In this episode, we stick with the Whole Sick Crew through their ups, their downs, their subsequent downs, their—wow, more downs, huh? Next time, V. Chs. 14-16.Show Notes:Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, suicide, abortion.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social. 

In this episode, we flop around with the Whole Sick Crew, then flip over to the metaphysical hellscape of besieged Malta, before finally deconstructing this whole “V” situation, literally. Next time, V. Chs. 12-13.Show Notes:A collection of V. book covers via ThomasPynchon.com"Mystery and Melancholy of a Street," by Giorgio de Chirico   "The Philosopher’s Conquest," by Giorgio de Chirico Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, xenophobia.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.

In this episode, we yo-yo from bohemian banality to colonialist atrocity. Awful house parties occur amidst both. Next time, V. Chs. 10-11.Show Notes:Archive.org “Report on the natives of South-west Africa and their treatment by Germany,”via the South-West Africa. Administrator’s OfficeAl Jazeera “How to pay for genocide: Namibian victims of German colonialism want a say,” by Shola LawalContent warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, genocide.---Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland. Follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.