"THERE ARE SOME MIGHTY TIRESOME PASSAGES HERE, JUVENILE AND DELINQUENT TOO"

PYNCHON, Thomas. Slow Learner. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown, (1984). Octavo, original white cloth, original dust jacket. $300.

First edition of Pynchon’s only collection of short stories, six works written early in his career.

The introduction to this collection, Pynchon's only published autobiographical text, states that "these stories were written between 1958 and 1964. Four of them I wrote when I was in college-the fifth, "The Secret Integration" (1964), is more of a journeyman than an apprentice effort… It is only fair to warn even the most kindly disposed of readers that there are some mighty tiresome passages here, juvenile and delinquent too. At the same time, my best hope is that, pretentious, goofy and ill-considered as they get now and then, these stories will still be of use with all their flaws intact, as illustrative of typical problems in entry-level fiction, and cautionary about some practice which younger writers might wish to avoid."

A fine copy.