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Rating: 
Summary: A pathology of the young Pynchon, with a delightful intro
Review: After reading Pynchon's excellent, self-deprecating introduction to these stories, it is difficult to read the stories without searching for, and finding, elements of writerly clumsiness and naivete. The effect is similar to that of reading James Joyce's "Stephen Hero": the realization that even great writers were human in their youth. I think of the preface to this book as the main body of the text, and the stories as figures and appendices elaborating on what Pynchon means when he criticizes his former self. I would not recommend this book for the intrinsic literary value of the stories -- they're not all that great, especially when compared with the Pynchon we more readily know. But as an essay about how not to write short stories, with some illustrations provided, or as a bit of Pynchon autobiography, Slow Learner is magnificent.
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Summary: Pleasing, and Unlike Pynchon
Review: I've read The Crying of Lot 49, as well as material about Pynchon, so expected a tough read, but found this collection of short stories surprisingly light, although the final story was excellent, thoughtful, and moving. As for the introduction, mentioned by someone as the worth of this book, he is nearly right, as it was an absolute pleasure to read, both light and witty; it wa so good that at times I simultaneously laughed and cried.
Rating: 
Summary: intro intro intro intro
Review: its uncommon to see a supposedly "visionary" author brutally criticize some of the work for which he is best known for, but that is exactly what we get in the introduction to this collection of short stories by the principle avator of post-modern tomfoolery. pynchon reserves his sharpest criticism for his most famous short story "entropy". as someone who can honestly say that reading entropy changed his life, this was a sobering and educational experience for me. this type of self criticism is not highly uncommon (ts eliot is famously remembered for rejecting, if not the themes of the wasteland, its stylistic execution). but for an author that, through out the duration of his career, has been an enigma rapped in a riddle, this introduction is his first step to providing clues as to where his true motivations reside.
apart from the introduction, we recieve very little in the way G.R pynchon, but we do get to examine the road map which lead him to the full realization of his literary style and voice. i wholeheartedly recomend this collection to any college aged student looking to measure his current talents and progress with one of the greats of modern literature, for the simple reason that many of these stories were written by pynchon as an undergraduate at cornell. as for other readers, buy it for its introduction if nothing else.
Rating:
Summary: leave the stories, read the introduction
Review: pynchon's introduction to these stories is truly top-notch. he talks about being an author, what it is like to mature, and what it is to look back at work that one is soo very far removed from. this all makes for an excellnt read. the stories themselves are, for the most part, forgettable. if you do find yourself with a craving to read one of them, the last one is nearly a fine bit of work, but then, instead of sticking to his guns, pynchon spells out a fact that's already been made clear by character actions, and the story ends up feeling like something meant for middle-schoolers or a reading-comprehension trainer rather than a full short-story. of course, it could be worse. i mean, i guess it could have been printed on poinson ivy or have arsenic in the binding glue. . .
Rating:
Summary: leave the stories, read the introduction
Review: pynchon's introduction to these stories is truly top-notch. he talks about being an author, what it is like to mature, and what it is to look back at work that one is soo very far removed from. this all makes for an excellnt read. the stories themselves are, for the most part, forgettable. if you do find yourself with a craving to read one of them, the last one is nearly a fine bit of work, but then, instead of sticking to his guns, pynchon spells out a fact that's already been made clear by character actions, and the story ends up feeling like something meant for middle-schoolers or a reading-comprehension trainer rather than a full short-story. of course, it could be worse. i mean, i guess it could have been printed on poinson ivy or have arsenic in the binding glue. . .
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, Fascinating . . .
Review: These five stories are all worth reading. "Entropy" is no doubt his most famous; first anthologized in BASS and, since then, numerous other places (even Norton anthologized it in American Literature). Pynchon writes in his elucidating intro. that this story is something like the epitome of every flaw of a young writer; but, man, he also realizes that this is his most famous short story (i.e., take his intro. with a grain of salt [whatever that cliche really means]). "The Secret Integration" is a wonderfully sensitive story -- and uncharacteristically NOT overwritten. It was fascinating to see the mind of a young, Cornell Pynchon at work and I believe is an inspiration for all aspiring young writers.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, Fascinating . . .
Review: These five stories are all worth reading. "Entropy" is no doubt his most famous; first anthologized in BASS and, since then, numerous other places (even Norton anthologized it in American Literature). Pynchon writes in his elucidating intro. that this story is something like the epitome of every flaw of a young writer; but, man, he also realizes that this is his most famous short story (i.e., take his intro. with a grain of salt [whatever that cliche really means]). "The Secret Integration" is a wonderfully sensitive story -- and uncharacteristically NOT overwritten. It was fascinating to see the mind of a young, Cornell Pynchon at work and I believe is an inspiration for all aspiring young writers.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting for Pynchonites
Review: This is not a book that can just be read for pleasure on its own. It is very much part of Pynchon's work and has to be seen as such. The introduction is definitely interesting and surprisingly revealing. He seems to dislike CL49, and even admits that his own anoymity is due to his belief that fiction is "too autobiographical", although he goes on to admit that almost every knows that part of the writer's life must go into his work, whether he wants it to or not. So perhaps this is a clue that his later works, perhaps most obviously Vineland, are more autobiographical than, say, V - which he reveals was robbed from a Baedeker he found in a secondhand book shop. The "Under the Rose" story is very interesting, probably the best in the collection. It is highly revealing for those puzzled by V (which means just about everyone). Indeed, although I read V a long time ago, I found this story did clear a lot up in my mind. It clarifies the idea that V is this odd woman who appears at crucial moments in history - she is, in this story, Victoria, but more generally she is a Venus that follows the hapless Goodfellow. Not all the stories are good. As Pynchon admits in his intro, parts are heavy going for the reader who wants enjoyment. But they are still fascinating for the Pynchonite who wants to humanise and demythologise the great man, and who wants to see how he found his style, despite him being a selfconfessed "slow learner".
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