CHECK IT OUT:Uncovering literary world’s recluses

“There is solitude of space ...” -- Emily Dickinson

“Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary” defines a recluse as “a person who leads a secluded or solitary life.” “The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language” includes the phrase “withdraws from the world.”

The word “recluse” becomes a quaint, almost unfathomable term in a world overwhelmed by multimedia coverage, 24-hour news, and the cult of celebrity. When even a quick trip to the grocery store informs one about the latest on Brad or Britney, it is hard to imagine that anyone would not want to be the object of paparazzi attention and gain their 15 minutes of fame.

But the world has had its share of famous recluses, people who have essentially withdrawn from society. If one does not include those who withdraw from the world for religious or meditative reasons, there is still a Greta Garbo or a Howard Hughes who, after years of fame and attention, say enough is enough.

The literary world has its recluses, too. And although authors are not usually recognized by the man in the street, most will do the book signing tours, enjoying the attention brought to their work.

Some, though, would rather die than venture out into society for such reasons. Emily Dickinson was probably our first “famous recluse.” (That’s not quite an oxymoron, but it is an odd juxtaposition.) Dickinson lived virtually her entire life in the family home in Amherst, Mass. And though she had deep friendships and family ties, she rarely traveled.

In our time, J. D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon co-claim the title of leading eschewers of public attention. Sadly, they get almost as much press about guessing where they are than they do about their works.

J.D. Salinger is, of course, most famous for the 1951 book, “The Catcher in the Rye.” He has not made a public appearance or published a new work since 1965, and he has not given an interview since 1974.

The 87-year-old author lives in New Hampshire and has gradually withdrawn further since his arrival there. Early on, he was moderately sociable and took great interest in mentoring some of the high school students in the area. When an interview for the high school paper wound up in the city paper instead, he withdrew completely.

Miraculously, back in 1997, Mr. Salinger gave a small press permission to publish a previously unpublished-in-full-form novella called “Hapworth 16, 1924.” The book got scads of media attention, and as a result, Salinger stopped the presses and it has never been released.

Though not prolific as a writer, Thomas Pynchon has published some of the most notable books in modern American literary history, including “V.,” “Vineland,” “Mason and Dixon,” and, of course, “Gravity’s Rainbow.” It was at the National Book Award ceremony for “Gravity’s Rainbow” that Pynchon’s reclusiveness became cemented in the public mind. Since Pynchon would not attend, the president of Viking Press hired the gobbledygook, double-talking comedian Professor Irwin Corey to accept on his behalf and a large part of the audience thought Corey was Pynchon.

So illusive is Pynchon that it only fuels speculation about him. When an article set forth the theory that Pynchon was in fact, J.D. Salinger, Pynchon atypically responded and wrote back with utmost simplicity, “Not bad. Keep trying.”

Book critic Arthur Salm summed it all up very nicely. He wrote, “the man simply chooses not to be a public figure, an attitude that resonates on a frequency so out of phase with that of the prevailing culture that if Pynchon and Paris Hilton were ever to meet ? the circumstances, I admit, are beyond imagining ? the resulting matter/antimatter explosion would vaporize everything from here to Tau Ceti IV.”

Whatever their reasons for withdrawing from the glitterati world, the only real conclusion to be reached is that they exist publicly through their work. And, perhaps, Holden Caulfield is actually more real than Jerome David Salinger. He will certainly live longer.