When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Emily Dickinson, "I have been hungry all the years," (3.21)
- Medea (3.30)
- The World According to Garp (4.41)
- Watership Down (4.41)
- Oliver's Story (4.41)
- Love Story (4.41)
- Little Men (4.41)
- Little Women (4.41)
- Jo's Boys (4.41)
- Beowulf (5.2)
- Hamlet (5.2)
- Macbeth (5.2)
- Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" (5.6)
- Shel Silverstein (5.8)
- Langston Hughes, "Harlem (Dream Deferred)" (5.11)
- Robert Herrick, "Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May" (5.14)
- Diary of Anne Frank (6.32)
- e.e. cummings (7.40)
- Maya Angelou, "Caged Bird" (7.47)
- Romeo and Juliet (10.29)
- The Wizard of Oz (21.116)
- David and Goliath (22.59)
- Soldier of Fortune (23.29)
- Mr. Rochester's wife, Jane Eyre (24.36)
- The Catcher in the Rye (34.12)
- Erica Jong (45.154)
- Judy Blume (46.2)
- Wonka Bars (57.34)
Historical References
Pop Culture References
- XTC (1.1)
- Skinny Puppy (1.3)
- The Misfits (1.3)
- Aliens (1.17)
- Every Which Way But Loose (1.36)
- Chipette, from The Chipmunks (3.13)
- Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (5.5)
- Bozo (6.2)
- Husker Dü (6.22)
- Paul Bunyan (6.27)
- It's A Small World (6.27)
- Thrasher magazine (7.9)
- Blackboard Jungle (7.46)
- Cabbage Patch Kid (7.40)
- Jean Grey (X-Men comics) (8.5)
- Watchmen, Alan Moore (9.8)
- X-Men (9.9)
- General Hospital (9.10)
- Swamp Thing (10.4)
- Don Bluth movies (10.10)
- The Smiths, "How Soon is Now?" (10.22)
- Echo & the Bunnymen
- Joy Division
- Clint Eastwood (12.67)
- The Dark Knight Returns (13.45)
- Mary Lou Retton (14.4)
- U2 (14.38)
- Miami Vice (14.39)
- Starship Enterprise (15.45)
- Diet Pepsi commercial (15.52)
- The Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four (17.91)
- "Jenny / 867-5309," Tommy Tutone (18.69)
- Bill Bixby, The Hulk (18.81)
- Chariots of Fire (18.84)
- "Summer of '69," Bryan Adams (18.110)
- "Two of Us," The Beatles (18.113)
- MTV (19.45)
- Bonnie Raitt (19.51)
- Judee Sill (19.54)
- Judy Collins (19.54)
- Crosby, Stills & Nash (19.54)
- Jimi Hendrix (19.55)
- Deep Purple (19.55)
- Jethro Tull (19.55)
- Cream (19.56)
- Vanilla Fudge (19.56)
- Canned Heat (19.56)
- Rubber Soul (19.94)
- Revolver (19.94)
- Sixty Minutes, Twenty-Twenty, John Stossel, Geraldo Rivera, Dianne Sawyer (19.94)
- The A-Team (19.97)
- Hugh Downs (19.110)
- Fraggle Rock (19.125)
- Doctor Who (19.161)
- Harpo Marx (19.161)
- Count Floyd (19.161)
- Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry (19.168)
- Peter Gabriel (19.178)
- Bread (19.273)
- Super Mario (20.15)
- Patti Smith (21.28)
- Saturday Night Live (21.28)
- David Letterman (21.34)
- Johnny Carson (21.34)
- Wang Chung (21.77)
- Tom Selleck (21.115)
- Webster (21.115)
- The Cleavers (21.122)
- Kung Fu, David Carradine, Chuck Norris (22.85)
- The Karate Kid (23.16)
- Punky Brewster (23.32)
- Family Feud (23.28)
- Matlock (23.75)
- Hill Street Blues (23.79)
- "Scarborough Fair," Simon and Garfunkel (25.23)
- Back to the Future (28.67)
- The White Album(29.7)
- The Fortress of Solitude (31.4)
- The Sex Pistols (31.23)
- Analog magazines (31.43)
- Joni Mitchell (31.46)
- Little Richard, "Tutti Frutti" (33.36)
- The Grinch(33.98)
- Frosty the Snowman (33.98)
- A Christmas Carol (33.98)
- Ming the Merciless (35.87)
- Duran Duran (35.87)
- Designing Women (35.93)
- Solid Gold dancers (35.117)
- David Bowie (35.189)
- Mark Bolan (35.189)
- Ozzy Osbourne (35.205)
- Star Wars action figures (36.9)
- El DeBarge (37.12)
- Mike Hammer (38.5)
- Dead Milkmen, Glenn Danzig, Henry Rollins (39.3-4)
- Elvis Costello (39.7)
- Joe Jackson (39.41)
- Jonathan Richman, the Modern Lovers (39.41)
- Hall and Oates (39.41)
- The Smiths (39.55)
- The Smithereens (39.55)
- Godzilla (39.65)
- Ronald McDonald, Wendy's (40.55-56)
- Nintendo (41.8)
- Billy Jack (41.14)
- Rudolph Valentino (41.16)
- Dairy Queen (41.28)
- Betty Boop (41.28)
- The Young Ones (42.16)
- Han Solo, Princess Leia, Boba Fett (42.62-68)
- Highway to Heaven (44.4)
- Wheel of Fortune (45.2)
- "I Want to Know What Love Is," Foreigner (45.86)
- Kung Fu (45.129)
- M*A*S*H (45.133)
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory(45.175)
- Bruce Lee (45.178)
- Black Sabbath (48.21)
- AC/DC (48.33)
- Led Zeppelin (48.33)
- Spider Man (48.54)
- The Price is Right (51.11)