Slow Learner

by Thomas Pynchon

English language

Published April 30, 1985

ISBN:: 978-0-316-72443-2

(8 reviews)

Slow Learner is the 1984 published collection of five early short stories by the American novelist Thomas Pynchon, originally published in various sources between 1959 and 1964. The book is also notable for its introduction, written by Pynchon. His comments on the stories after reading them again for the first time in many years, and his recollection of the events surrounding their creation, amount to the author's only autobiographical comments to his readers.

10 editions

Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed Slow Learner by Thomas Pynchon

Review of 'Slow Learner' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This was an interesting collection of early short stories by Thomas Pynchon. Though some of the stories were much better than others (I particularly liked "The Secret Integration" and "Low-lands") the introduction is the real gem of this collection. The introduction alone (which by itself I would give 4 stars) is worth the price of a used copy of this book. Pynchon is usually very guarded when it comes to interviews or any public contact so it was a nice surprise to find him so candid and generous here. He writes very honestly about what he thinks of each of these stories and where he thought they fit into his overall learning curve as a writer.

I recommend this collection to fans of Pynchon's novels or practicing writers.