Pynchon: Last of the analogue rebels

He won't be breaking his silence to explain why, but Thomas Pynchon has finally allowed his work to be sold digitally. The reclusive novelist's seven books, including Gravity's Rainbow, are now available as e-books; Pynchon is one of the last major writers to consent to the move.

Shortly before his death last week, Ray Bradbury – who once said of ebooks, "Those aren't books" – had republished his sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451 in digital format. JK Rowling and Judy Blume have also recently succumbed. There are still some notable exceptions, however.

Harper Lee, another press-averse author, refuses to allow To Kill A Mockingbird to be published digitally; JD Salinger's estate has yet to consent to Catcher in the Rye getting the e-book treatment. And Maurice Sendak, who died in May, never countenanced Kindle versions of his children's books.

"I hate those e-books," he said. "They cannot be the future. They may well be. I'll be dead, I won't give a shit."