As the legendary American author releases his long-awaited new novel, Martin Chilton explores Pynchon’s reputation as one of the most ‘reclusive’ writers working right now T he cult of Thomas Pynchon is powerful and will only be bolstered by Shadow Ticket , the 88-year-old writer’s first novel in 12 years and one that, as an admirer of much of his previous work, I found to be a rather mixed bag. Firstly, however, let’s deal with the massive Pynchon elephant in the room: the tedious obsession