  The nova T Pyx was observed with high resolution spectroscopy (R ~ 65000)
spectroscopy, beginning 1 day after discovery of the outburst and continuing
through the last visibility of the star at the end of May 2011. The
interstellar absorption lines of Na I, Ca II, CH, CH$^+$, and archival H I 21
cm emission line observations have been used to determine a kinematic distance.
Interstellar diffuse absorption features have been used to determine the
extinction independent of previous assumptions. Sample Fe-peak line profiles
show the optical depth and radial velocity evolution of the discrete
components. We propose a distance to T Pyx $\geq$4.5kpc, with a strict lower
limit of 3.5 kpc (the previously accepted distance). We derive an extinction,
E(B-V)$\approx0.5\pm$0.1, that is higher than previous estimates. The first
observation, Apr. 15, displayed He I, He II, C III, and N III emission lines
and a maximum velocity on P Cyg profiles of the Balmer and He I lines of
$\approx$2500 km s$^{-1}$ characteristic of the fireball stage. These ions were
undetectable in the second spectrum, Apr. 23, and we use the recombination time
to estimate the mass of the ejecta, $10^{-5}f$M$_\odot$ for a filling factor
$f$. Numerous absorption line systems were detected on the Balmer, Fe-peak, Ca
II, and Na I lines, mirrored in broader emission line components, that showed
an "accelerated" displacement in velocity. We also show that the time sequence
of these absorptions, which are common to all lines and arise only in the
ejecta, can be described by recombination front moving outward in the expanding
gas without either a stellar wind or circumstellar collisions.
