Perloff would spell Harry Mathews name as "Matthews" in more than one book of hers. In one book I referred to A.R. Ammons as "A.A. Ammons." The pattern might be that a writer one has read a little of, but not devoted attention to, might slip through with a mismemorized name. Perloff mentioned Harry's work, but didn't devote a chapter to him ever. Same with me and Ammons. I once wrote "Zukovsky," but not in print. If people told you they didn't like "Ashberry" or "Alan Ginzburg" you knew they hadn't given them a chance.
We were taught that people who referred to The Wasteland or Finnegan's Wake were unreliable. Those are classic shibboleths, and a little unfair.
A normal amount of error, then, is to be expected. Most Matthews are Matthews, not Mathews. There are more Matthews than Mayhews, and I've gotten Mathew / Matthews as misspelling or mispronunciation of my name as well.
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