Thomas Pynchon is a master of American metafiction and one of our last
literary recluses. He rarely makes public appearances, but when he does,
they tend to be on The Simpsons. Pynchon has appeared twice on the show
so far, delivering jokes about his novels through a bag on his head,
anonymous even in animation. It makes sense: The only thing more meta
than an average episode of The Simpsons is a Pynchon novel like The
Crying of Lot 49. And the only thing more meta than The Crying of Lot 49
is Pynchon joking about The Crying of Lot 49 on an episode of The
Simpsons.
-- Emily Harnett. "Pop Culture in a Post-Truth America"
Literary Hub (December 15, 2016).
http://lithub.com/pop-culture-in-a-post-truth-america/