Thomas Pynchon's legions of obsessive fans have been provided with a glimpse into the notoriously reclusive author's psyche after he designed a playlist of songs to complement his new novel Inherent Vice.
The book, a departure for Pynchon into the world of the private eye, was published earlier this month and has already given grist to the mill of Pynchon-mania: a video trailer for the novel "may or may not" feature a cameo voiceover from Pynchon himself, according to its producer Meerkat.
Now Pynchon has put together a list of the songs which feature in Inherent Vice, which follows the story of pot-smoking private eye Larry "Doc" Sportello. From The Beach Boys (God Only Knows and Help Me, Rhonda) to The Beatles (Can't Buy Me Love), Frank Sinatra (Fly Me to the Moon) and Pink Floyd (Interstellar Overdrive), the soundtrack, which he designed for Amazon.com, is a journey through the music of the 1960s, the setting for his new novel.
It also includes a few fictional tunes: a song "performed" by Doc himself, Skyful of Hearts, as well as providing a nod to Scott Oof of Vineland fame, whose band Beer "performs" the theme song from The Big Valley.
His fans are liable to lap it up: they have already created a page-by-page annotation for Inherent Vice, just seven days after it was published, as well as putting together their own playlist for the book which runs to almost 100 songs – and includes page references - dwarfing Pynchon's own contribution of 42 tunes.