A verified 'encounter' with the reclusive Thomas Pynchon

So it really was the mysterious author! Or his voice, anyway. Thomas Pynchon is the Emily Dickinson of his era – a literary genius happy only completely free of the public eye.  Pynchon has so successfully kept a low profile for so many decades that his Wikipedia bio includes only a 1957 snapshot of him during his service in the Navy.

But he's been a little less protective of his voice. Three times in recent years he has "appeared" in episodes of the Simpsons. And now his publisher has confirmed that the groovy, scratchy voice narrating the trailer for Inherent Vice, his newly released novel, is that of Pynchon.

The trailer is sure to garner a big audience and that probably won't hurt sales of the novel, either. For some readers, the only comparable event would be a YouTube sighting of J.D. Salinger.