Thomas Pynchon: Father of Steampunk

Clockwork ducks, the Chums of Chance and their zeppelins, and his penchant for secret histories ... can one assert that Pynchon is, in fact, the Father of Steampunk?

Thankfully, no.

2: Why not? Especially if it will help make more people read his stuff?

1
Mason & Dixon and Against the Day were johnnie-come-latelies with regard to steampunk. I'm no expert on the subject, but it hit my radar screen when The Difference Engine came out, and that must have been around the early nineties. M&D was released 1997, and ATD only a few years ago. Maybe Pynch has given the genre a playful nod, but I wouldn't read anything more into it.

Agreed with #2 & #4. And why "make" anyone read Pynchon? He's not hurting for readers, and while I like "his stuff" immensely, I recognize that it will never be a taste universally shared.

Actually, Thomas Pynchon was integrating the steampunk genre way back in 1961, with a short fiction called "Under the Rose." Check it.