Author Thomas Pynchon is one of the most determinedly private people on the planet. His son? Not so much.

Fifteen-year-old Jackson Pynchon enjoys yoga, acid jazz, and the films of Spike Lee. All this information, and more, is available in his profile on the social networking site Facebook.com. It requires permission to view, but that's not difficult to obtain; unlike his father, the famously reclusive author of mega-cult classics Gravity's Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, and V., Pynchon fils apparently welcomes interaction with the public. He has 635 friends in his network, including 182 at his New York City prep school, Collegiate.

Should young Jackson ever feel the need to commiserate about the pressures of having famous parents, he can turn to his Facebook buddies Sam Brill (son of media mogul Steve Brill, Collegiate '06), Emily McEnroe (daughter of tennis great John McEnroe, Trevor Day School '09), or Daniel and Izzy Rattner (sons of real estate tycoon Steven Rattner, Collegiate '09 and '10, respectively).
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Other details: Jackson is "straight." He is interested in "random play" (despite being "married" to a lovely looking gal named Devika from Brearley!). His birthday is May 18. He's a member of several groups including Save Darfur-End Genocide, Stewart/Colbert 2008, and Procrastinators Anonymous. His religious views are "Rastafarian." Political causes he supports include "socialism" and "lowering the drinking age." His favorite author is—sorry, Pop!—Kurt Vonnegut.

Nothing in the profile seems likely to bring as much shame to the family name as the career of Pynchon's niece, porn star Tristan Taormino. But one might think a writer who won't even allow a headshot on his dust jackets would be less than thrilled with his son's lively online social life.

Intriguingly, Jackson's photo gallery includes a picture of the lad with his arm around the neck of a man who appears to be about his father's age; only Jackson is identified in the caption. While just a handful of photos of the elder Pynchon—whose latest tome, Against the Day, is due out in November—have been published in the past 40 years, several sources who have seen him up close in the past decade said, alas, it's not him.

There are, however, three genuine affinity groups on Facebook for Thomas Pynchon fans. Guess who's not a member?