Category: Bleeding Edge
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Mamajuana
Mamajuana at last! More than a decade in the uncorking, but its fumes were in the air right from the beginning of this Drunk Pynchon goose chase. Bleeding Edge was the original inspiration here, with the hollows in its DeepArcher crawlers’ webs sheltering obscure booze of various tantalising species, eminently googleable although often not so…
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Pinot E-Grigio
Puns, often of the ludicrously bad-good variety, are a significant Pynchonian sideline. The classic might be Gravity’s Rainbow‘s “For DeMille, young fur henchmen can’t be rowing,” but we could fill volumes quoting them from across the oeuvre—probably about nine volumes. For many of us, or for me at least, these Pynchonian puns exemplify a chief…
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White Bordeaux
Chapter 17 of Bleeding Edge finds Maxine at a disreputable tavern by the name of Junior’s Ooh-La Lounge sniffing out leads on Gabriel Ice and the fire at Shae and Bruno’s place. She meets Randy, a helpful fellow with a fondness for Shania Twain and a key to Ice’s front gate. They drive out to…
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Jägermeister and 151
Happy Pynchon in Public Day! Alas I must most shamefully confess to having read no Pynchon in public today. As penance, I will now drink one shot of Jägermeister and 151 and tell you about it on the semi-public of this weblog. Chapter 20 of Bleeding Edge finds our heroine Maxine snooping for Eric Outfield…
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Tignanello
Bleeding Edge doesn’t see to be many people’s favourite Pynchon. A bit too narrow in its concerns maybe, or a little too careful with its tone; not grand enough to compete with the bigger books, not zany enough to stand up to Lot 49 or Inherent Vice. Not saying I dislike it though. The tender…
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Hpnotiq
A little while back, the ever entertaining and always insightful masochists at the Pynchon in Public podcast published the final episode of their Bleeding Edge season. More recently, I had the pleasure of catching up with Bo to record an episode for the interregnum before their V season begins. Last time we got together, it…
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The Macallan
I first cracked open Tom Pynchon’s Liquor Cabinet and got stuck into the Chivas Regal four years ago today. That seems like a good excuse for more whisky. The Macallan graces the same top shelf Bleeding Edge Silicon Alley party bar where we found Stolichnaya Elit and Tanqueray No. 10. Those were both very pleasant, but if I were at…
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Soju Wallbanger
It’s time for that old favourite game again: drinking things Guardian commenters say you shouldn’t. Last time it was vodka with milk, vegetable soup, and watermelon juice. Today it’s the Soju Wallbanger, about which one “sprockethawk” holds some strong opinions: I am sorry to report that my evening has thus far involved no solar sparkle…
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Tanqueray No. 10
Although it is fairly icy cold in Melbourne and probably best suited to a whiskey and a fireplace, today is World Gin Day and I do not wish to attract the displeasure of the World Gin Police. Drunk Pynchonette and I have a resolutely summery gin old-fashioned each. The particular gin is Tanqueray No. 10, pulled from the same…
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Stolichnaya Elit
Probably like plenty of other Pynchonites, I found the ’90s pop-culture bandwidth overload of Bleeding Edge pleasantly jarring. Not that it was really out of character—the books are all loaded with this kind of cultural flotsam and jetsam. It’s just that Pynchon’s usually rebuilding a pop culture expired well before my time. Catching lowbrow references comprehensible without wikipedia was a strange new…
Tom Pynchon's Liquor Cabinet 