Chapter 1

2013-09-19T21:14:15Z

Npoulos: /* Page 2 */

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==Title==
"Bleeding Edge" has a number of meanings. See [[Bleeding Edge Title]]. The phrase first appears on pg. 78 "What's known as bleeding-edge technology. [...] No proven use, high risk, something only early-adoption addicts feel comfortable with."

==Cover==
The cover photograph is of a server farm. I found it [http://www.wallpapervortex.com/wallpaper-18727_miscellaneous_server_farm_at_night.html here]. It's entitled "Server Farm at Night." Note how the image also evokes the World Trade Center, and the cover of Pynchon's [http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ''V.''] ...

More info at [[Bleeding Edge cover analysis]]

==Book jacket description==
Pynchon likely wrote [[Bleeding_Edge|the copy]] for the book jacket description of ''Bleeding Edge'' and he likely did the same for [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ''Inherent Vice''].

==Epigraph==
'''Donald Edwin Westlake''' (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres. He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, one of only three writers (the others are Joe Gores and William L. DeAndrea) to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, ''God Save the Mark''; 1990, Best Short Story, "Too Many Crooks"; 1991, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, ''The Grifters''). In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Westlake a Grand Master, the highest honor bestowed by the society. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake More on Wikipedia]

==Title Page==
'''Flatiron Building''' 
The title page feature a photograph of the Flatiron Building, a skyscraper in NYC. "The neighborhood around it is called the Flatiron District after its signature building, which has become an icon of New York City." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building Wikipedia]

==Dedication==
Like ''Inherent Vice'' and ''Against the Day'', ''Bleeding Edge'' has no dedication. Pynchon dedicated three of his earlier novels to friends and family: ''Mason & Dixon'' ("For Melanie, and for Jackson"), ''Vineland'' ("For my mother and father"), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' ("For Richard Fariña").

==Page 1==

'''"the first day of spring, 2001"''' 
three instances of beginnings: the first day, of spring (the season of beginning and renewal), of the new millennium.

'''"though some still have her in their system"''' 
the novel's first sentence invokes the topic of personal data held in various databases or systems.

'''"walking her boys to school"''' 
This scene -- a parent walking children to school in the Upper West Side of New York City -- is, more than any of Pynchon's novels, evocative of what is reported of Pynchon's biography.
:This could be an early hint that the novel has a more autobiographical element than any of his previous works? [[User:Benvolio|Benvolio]] ([[User talk:Benvolio|talk]])

[[File:Callerypear.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Callery pear trees blooming in NYC, Creative Commons licensed photo from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamekame/5621004054/sizes/z/in/photostream/ here]]]'''

'''Callery Pear trees''' 
Planted extensively in NYC due to its fast-growing nature and tolerance of pollution and other extreme conditions. [http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/trees-blooms/tree-database/callery-pear.html Central Park Conservancy] Their blooming is a first sign of spring.
:Much has been written on how Callery trees smell like semen. E.g., [http://www.theawl.com/2013/04/this-spring-new-york-city-smells-much-less-like-sperm article]

'''she drifts into a pick''' 
A "pick" is a basketball term. It refers to an offensive player blocking a defensive player.

A "pick" is also an American football term to describe what happens when offensive players move in such a way, often crossing paths, that causes the defensive players covering them to either run into each other or else disrupting their routes in order to avoid contact, thereby freeing up the offensive players from close coverage. Offensive positioning, in other words, that causes two or more defensive players to interfere with each other. A borderline illegal play that can draw a penalty if done too obviously. 

==Page 2==

'''unsheltered''' 
a term meaning those homeless who sleep in such places as doorways and lobbies. "The word unhoused refers to that segment of a homeless community who do not have ordinary lawful access to buildings in which to sleep, as referred to in the HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] definition as persons occupying "place not designed for ... sleeping accommodation for human beings." "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness#Unsheltered_or_unhoused_people Wikipedia]

added thought: Pynchon has tickled his creatures with Heideggerian thought throughout his writing. Unsheltered is not the "normal" way in which we describe our "homeless".

'''Razor scooters''' 
a popular brand of scooter, but note how the word "razor" echoes/evokes the title, ''Bleeding Edge''.

'''Otto Kugelblitz''' 
German, "ball lightning". The Kugelblitz was also the name of a tank in WWII. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelblitz Wikipedia]
:Many references to Germany, German words, names and German history run throughout Pynchon's oeuvre, to the point where Pynchon scholar David Cowart posits that "Pynchon seems to have had a German period, a post-German period, and a neo-Continental or global period. During his German phase he produced his first three novels... His next work, the long-awaited Vineland, represents a new phase in which the almost obsessive attention to German more seems to have faded." ''Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History'' (2012), at p. 59. [[User:Benvolio|Benvolio]] ([[User talk:Benvolio|talk]])
:A character name Skip the sentient ball lightning appears in ''Against the Day. [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=S]

'''on a cross street ''Law & Order'' has so far managed not to film on''' 
''Law & Order'' was the longest running crime drama on TV. It ran for 20 seasons and filmed its episodes on the streets of New York City. Of course, this adds to building sense of paranoia and fear in this opening description.

'''Berggasse 19''' 
The address in Vienna where Freud lived. It is now the site of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud_Museum_%28Vienna%29 Sigmund Freud Museum].

==Page 3==
'''"Maxi, hi?'''" 
Vyrva speaks in uptalk, or phrasing statements like questions, a linguistic characteristic found (among other places) in Southern California, especially among so-called "Valley girls". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptalk Wikipedia]

==Page 4==
'''antennas for the unspoken''' 
Cf, a letter by Pynchon: "Given the British genius for coded utterance, this could all be about something else entirely, impossible on this side of the ocean to appreciate in any nuanced way..." [http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/thomas-pynchon-on-plagiarism.html Source]

==Page 6==
'''the gates of Danbury''' 
a federal prison. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Correctional_Institution,_Danbury Wikipedia]

'''Crazy Eddie''' 
American electronics store famous for its radio and TV ads in the 60s and 70s, featuring the slogan, "his prices are insane". The T-shirt in question was designed by, of all people, Robert Crumb. The TV ads featured New York disc jockey Jerry Carroll as the pitchman. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crazyeddie.jpg Wikipedia]

[[File:Crazyeddieshirt.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Crazy Eddie T-Shirt, designed by the legendary Robert Crumb''']]

==Page 7==
'''as Britney always sez''' 
"Oops! I Did It Again" was a huge pop hit in 2000 for Britney Spears.

'''"Help Me Rhonda"''' 
1965 song by the Beach Boys. [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pynchon_and_Brian_Wilson Pynchon reportedly recommended] that Jules Siegel listen to the Beach Boys' ''Pet Sounds'', as recounted in Siegel's article, "Who is Thomas Pynchon, and Why Did He Take Off With My Wife" (1977). Pynchon mentions "Help Me Rhonda" and two other Beach Boys hits in ''Inherent Vice''. [http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Songs_mentioned_in_Inherent_Vice]

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Chapter 1