I Know This Much is True Allusions and Cultural References

Literary and Philosophical References

• Dante (2.219)
• Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (2.222; 14.50)
• William Styron (2.222; 14.45)
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (2.222; 14.50)
• Mickey Spillane (2.223)
• James M. Cain (2.224)
• Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (9.103)
• Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (14.24)
• James Michener (14.45)
• John Steinbeck (14.50)
• Carl Jung (15.57)
• Joseph Campbell (15.59)
• Claude Lévi-Strauss (15.59)
• Heinrich Zimmer (15.59)
• Salman Rushdie (15.256)
• Mark Twain (18.123)
• Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (19.2)
• William Shakespeare, Hamlet (22.32; 44.6)
• Sigmund Freud (34.76)
• Sophocles, Oedipus the King (34.80)
• Plato (47.69)
• Søren Kierkegaard (47.69)

Historical References

• President Bush (the first one) (throughout)
• Saddam Hussein (throughout)
• Operation Desert Shield (throughout)
• The Persian Gulf crisis (1.2)
• Nikita Khrushchev (2.9; 5.26)
• Mamie Eisenhower (2.48; 42.307)
• J. Edgar Hoover (2.133)
• Marquis de Sade (2.244)
• John F. Kennedy (3.27)
• Lee Harvey Oswald (6.64)
• Alexander Graham Bell (9.62)
• Eli Whitney (9.62)
• The Trojan War (12.68)
• Mother Teresa (12.123)
• Chappaquiddick (13.3; 18.1)
• Woodstock (13.3)
• Manifest Destiny (13.33)
• Sandra Day O'Connor (17.314)
• Neil Armstrong and the moon landing (18.1)
• Gloria Steinem (25.9)
• Henry Ford (30.57)
• Rodney King (38.7; 40.9)

Pop Culture References

• The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (2.71)
• John Lennon, "Instant Karma" (2.176)
• Sesame Street (2.204)
• Hustler (2.223)
• Cheers (2.236)
• Jaws (2.242)
• L.A. Law (2.246; 26.18; 40.203)
• Tina Turner (2.250)
• David Letterman (3.1)
• Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor (3.27)
• Elmer Fudd (3.27)
• Maxwell Smart (3.27)
• Willie Nelson (3.60)
• Bob Dylan (3.60)
• Indigo Girls (3.68)
• Three Stooges (3.68; 5.8)
• Robocop (4.31)
• Daffy Duck (5.8)
• Sylvester (5.8)
• Tweety Bird (5.8)
• Road Runner (5.8)
• Francis the Talking Mule (5.24)
• The Rifleman (5.26)
• Jayne Mansfield (5.26)
• The Wizard of Oz (5.40)
• Connie Chung (throughout Chapters 6, 7, 9 and 17)
• Charles Bronson (6.12)
• Hawaii Five-O (6.24)
• Geraldo Rivera (6.27)
• Elvis Presley (6.41)
• Psycho (7.9)
• Don Knotts (Barney Fife, Mr. Furley from Three's Company) (7.76)
• Ivana Trump (7.83)
• Superman (8.4; 15.227)
• The Addams Family (8.41)
• "The Monster Mash" (8.45)
• Star Trek (9.2)
• Rambo (9.140)
• The Music Man (10.5)
• The Rockettes (10.14)
• Luke Skywalker (12.2)
• Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, "Wooly Bully" (12.23)
• The Troggs, "Wild Thing" (12.26)
• You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (12.26)
• Donald Trump (12.38; 30.66)
• Arsenio Hall (12.39)
• The Price is Right (12.41)
• Eddie Haskell, Leave it to Beaver (12.72)
• Michael Bolton (12.128)
• Annette Funicello (13.14)
• Jayne Mansfield (13.36)
• Jeopardy! (14.15)
• Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (14.15)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (15.14; 46.132)
• Night of the Living Dead (15.36; 28.11)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (15.38)
• Curious George (15.79)
• Jackie Gleason, The Honeymooners (17.45)
• Planet of the Apes (18.17)
• King Kong (18.23)
• Popeye (18.25, 18.42)
• Steve McQueen, Bullitt (18.47)
• James Bond (18.47)
• Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (18.47)
• Tonto, The Lone Ranger (19.69; 28.62)
• Jiminy Cricket (19.109)
• Lassie (20.23)
• Jackson Pollock (21.9)
• Gina Lollobrigida (21.17)
• Stephen Foster, "Beautiful Dreamer" (21.18)
• Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan (21.38)
• You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (22.32)
• The Mod Squad (22.261)
• Charles Manson (24.59)
• The Twilight Zone (25.95)
• John Wayne (25.145)
• Alfred Hitchcock (26.72)
• David Letterman (27.16)
• The Monkees (27.16)
• Rhoda Morgenstern (27.16)
• Goofy (28.6)
• Patton (28.26)
• Jack Benny (28.36)
• Ted Turner (30.57)
• Frugal Gourmet (30.168)
• 60 Minutes (30.333)
• Carol Brady (30.368)
• Mary Tyler Moore (30.374)
• Paul Newman (30.385)
• Murder, She Wrote (30.392)
• Rambo (30.396)
• Batman (30.398)
• Annie Oakley (30.402)
• Little Red Riding Hood (34.76)
• Cinderella (34.80)
• Bruce Willis, Die Hard 2 (36.96; 44.91)
• Mickey Mouseketeers (38.4)
• Eric Clapton (40.18; 42.338; 46.109)
• The Little Mermaid (40.204; 46.136)
• The People's Court (40.235)
• Walt Disney (42.30)
• George Carlin (42.82)
• Seinfeld (44.75)
• The Simpsons (44.75)
• Olivia Newton-John (44.165)
• Yanni (46.103)
• Oprah (46.81, 46.86)
• M*A*S*H, Hop Lips Houlihan (46.120)
• Dances with Wolves (46.132)
• The Naked Gun (46.132)
• Rodney Dangerfield (47.22)
• Bob Marley (47.120)