---
layout: post
status: publish
published: true
title: Pynchon's Friends in Gravity's Rainbow

wordpress_id: 1561
wordpress_url: https://www.martineve.com/?p=1561
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categories:
- Literature
- Thomas Pynchon
- Academia
tags:
- Pynchon
- academia
comments:
- id: 6575
  author: Cyprian Latewood
  author_email: laurencehopkins@gmail.com
  author_url: http://twitter.com/#!/lawsandaverages
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  content: The late, Tom ("Hugh") Godolphin (http://plates.library.cornell.edu/donor/DNR00381)
    taught at Cornell while Pynchon was there. Anyone's guess as to whether he was
    a friend or he just liked the name. Dr. Shale Schoenmaker's name is possibly from
    Thelma Schoonmaker who went to Cornell with Pynchon. And of course GR is dedicated
    to Richard Farina.
- id: 6576
  author: Martin Paul Eve
  author_email: martin@martineve.com
  author_url: https://www.martineve.com
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  content: ! 'Yes, indeed! In addition to other info on http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Godolphin
    it''s probably also worth considering the variants on Sidney Godolphin, particularly
    as they pertain to colonial administrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Godolphin_%28disambiguation%29


    Have you seen or read Pynchon Character Names: A Dictionary?'
- id: 6577
  author: Cyprian Latewood
  author_email: laurencehopkins@gmail.com
  author_url: http://twitter.com/#!/lawsandaverages
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  content: I've seen it and want it but can't currently justify buying it! I've been
    trying to find a list of all his characters in one place on the web to no avail
    so I might have to take the plunge at some point. I'm also assuming from its publication
    date that it misses such gems as Trillium Fortnight and Sancho Smilax.
- id: 6578
  author: Martin Paul Eve
  author_email: martin@martineve.com
  author_url: https://www.martineve.com
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  content: Your post prompted me to dive in; I found a used copy on Amazon for £9.99
    but, yes, I assume this doesn't go up to Inherent Vice and so will withhold the
    joys of Adrian Prussia, Fabian Fazzo and Puck Beaverton!
- id: 6582
  author: Martin Paul Eve
  author_email: martin@martineve.com
  author_url: https://www.martineve.com
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  content: For further info, Hurley suggests the metaphysical poet, Sidney Godolphin,
    as a source. With Schoenmaker, it's certainly more likely to be a reference to
    the German schönmachen, to make beautiful (again, glossed by Hurley, but pretty
    sure Grant also picks up on this). The Hurley only goes up to Mason & Dixon.
---
<p>On my latest, but numerically beyond-counting, read-through of <i>Gravity's Rainbow</i>, it suddenly struck me that the Fred and Phyllis referenced on page 711: "(who's that tapping and giggling at your door, Fred and Phyllis?)" are none other than Pynchon's long-standing friends Fred and (the late) Phyllis Gebauer.</p>
<p>While I'd written about Phyllis before, notably in regard to her donation of a rare set of signed copied of Pynchon's works to the UCLA writing programme to fund scholarships, I also wondered if there were other of Pynchon's friends making it into his writing. Others certainly think so. Disappointingly, there is no source for this information cited, but Gene Bluestein in Anglish/Yinglish: Yiddish in American Life and Literature (U of Nebraska Press, 1998), p. 86 claims that Steve Edelman is also the name of one of Pynchon's acquaintances: “here, as elsewhere, Pynchon uses the name of a friend”. Whether this is hearsay remains unconfirmed.</p>
<p>Of course, this will remain a topic of fascination; Pynchon's reluctance to let any details of his personal life into the open (and, hey, that's entirely his right) while simultaneously writing novels in which quests (albeit quests which disintegrate) are of primary significance almost invites such speculation.</p>