When authors give shout outs 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
- Michel Foucault (1.2.1)
- E.O. Wilson (1.2.84)
- T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (1.3.75)
- Charles Darwin, On the Origin of the Species (1.4.73)
- Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"(2.5.56)
- Franz Kafka (3.1.13)
- Anton Chekhov (3.2.19)
- Lord Byron (3.5.7)
- John Donne (3.5.7)
- Jonathan Swift (3.5.7)
- William Wordsworth (3.5.7)
- Charles Dickens (3.5.7)
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson (3.5.7)
- E.M. Forster (3.5.7)
- Friedrich Nietzsche (3.5.7)
- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (3.5.39)
- William Shakespeare (3.5.38)
- Boethius (3.5.38)
- Machiavelli (3.5.39)
- Thomas Hardy (3.5.39)
- John Locke (3.5.41)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (3.5.41)
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (3.6.1)
- Karl Marx (3.6.72)
- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (3.6.9)
- George Eliot, Daniel Deronda (3.6.9)
- Conrad Richter, The Light in the Forest (3.6.13)
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, "Pied Beauty"(3.6.26)
- Harold Robbins, The Lovely Lady (3.8.50)
- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (3.8.50)
- Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (3.10.91)
- Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline (4.4.93)
- Herman Hesse, Siddhartha (4.4.146)
- Kate Chopin (4.5.80)
- Jane Bowles (4.5.80)
- Gary Snyder (4.5.80)
- Emily Dickinson (4.5.109)
It's All Greek to Us: Greek Literature, Philosophy, and Mythology
- Tiresias (1.1.2; also referenced throughout Book 3, Chapter 6; 3.10.89)
- Mount Olympus (throughout Book One, Chapter One)
- Homer (1.1.5; 2.3.36; 3.5.7; 3.6.12)
- Sappho (1.1.55; 3.2.14; 3.3.130)
- Socrates (1.1.61; 3.5.38; 3.5.39)
- Plato (1.1.61; 3.5.38)
- Aristotle (1.1.61; 3.5.38)
- Cleopatra (1.1.61)
- Apollo (2.1.153; 3.5.46)
- The Minotaur (throughout Book 2, Chapter Two)
- Hercules (2.2.155; 3.4.39)
- Theseus (2.2.156)
- Orpheus (2.5.23)
- Ovid, The Metamorphoses (2.7.4)
- Cicero (2.7.7; 3.5.38)
- Zeus (2.7.62)
- Sisyphus (3.3.91)
- Dionysius (3.5.7) (3.5.46)
- Marcus Aurelius (3.5.38)
- Virgil (3.5.38)
- Thucydides (3.5.38)
- Adeimantus (3.5.39)
- Medusa (3.5.50)
- The Iliad (3.6.13)
- Antigone (referenced throughout Book 3, Chapter 6)
- Aphrodite (3.8.178; 4.5.82)
- Aeneas (3.8.178)
- The Oracle of Delphi (3.9.157)
- The Golden Fleece (4.4.92)
- Hermes (4.5.82)
Art and Theater References
- Madama Butterfly, an opera (1.1.17)
- The Thinker, a statue by Rodin (1.1.17)
- The Magic Flute, an opera (1.3.125)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1.4.42)
- Edvard Munch, The Scream (2.3.49)
- Diego Rivera, artist (2.3.105)
- Ansel Adams, photographer (2.6.4)
- M.C. Escher (3.4.45)
- Maria Callas, opera singer (3.6.30)
- "Flight of the Bumblebee" (3.6.41)
- Mona Lisa (4.3.38)
- Andy Warhol (4.3.106; 4.6.1)
- David Mamet (4.5.17)
Historical References
- Edward Gibbon (1.1.16)
- Madame de Staël (1.1.16)
- Henry Cabot Lodge (1.4.73)
- Henry Ford (mentioned throughout Book Two, Chapter 1; 2.3.105)
- The Woodward Plan (2.1.7)
- Richard Nixon (2.1.17; 2.6.26; 3.5.49; 3.9.2)
- "Yankee Doodle" (2.1.251)
- John the Baptist (2.2.70)
- The Romanovs (2.2.80)
- Charles Darwin (2.4.40)
- World War II (referenced throughout Book 2, Chapter 6; 3.2.79)
- Michael Dukakis (2.6.26; 2.6.27)
- Harry Truman (2.6.26)
- Lyndon Johnson (2.6.26; 3.2.45; 3.2.49)
- Bill Clinton (2.6.26)
- George H.W. Bush (2.6.26)
- Mario Cuomo (2.6.26)
- Douglas MacArthur (2.6.46)
- Malcolm X (2.7.12)
- Jackie Onassis (3.1.12; 3.1.13)
- The Spanish Civil War (3.1.60)
- Chè Guevara (3.1.60)
- The Cold War (3.2.15)
- George Romney (3.2.45; 3.2.49) (father of Mitt Romney, CEO of American Motors, and Governor of Michigan)
- Vietnam War (3.2.79)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (3.3.45)
- Boston Tea Party (3.3.55)
- Coleman A. Young (3.4.71)
- Henry Kissinger (3.5.34; 3.9.13)
- Abraham Lincoln (4.4.136)
- The Stonewall Riots (4.5.52)
- Gay Rights Movement (4.5.52)
Pop Culture References
- "Ain't We Got Fun?" (1.2.10)
- Photoplay, a film magazine (1.3.123)
- Artie Shaw, "Begin the Beguine"(mentioned throughout Book Two, Chapter 5)
- Edgar Bergen (2.5.56)
- Marlene Dietrich (2.5.58)
- Into the Sands (2.6.48)
- As the World Turns (3.1.31)
- Sidney Poitier (3.2.40)
- To Sir with Love (3.2.40)
- "Mama Don't Allow It" by Bunny Berigan (3.2.54)
- "Stardust" by Tommy Dorsey (3.2.54)
- Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox (3.2.55)
- Godzilla (3.2.71)
- Charlie Chaplin (3.3.93)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (3.3.126)
- Robert Kennedy (3.3.126)
- Sammy Davis, Jr., "Bojangles" (3.4.43)
- The Tonight Show (3.4.69)
- Love Story (3.4.74) (3.6.13)
- Dorothy Hamill (3.5.61)
- Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby (3.6.8)
- Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl (3.6.30)
- John Lennon (3.6.32; 4.7.24)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (3.6.33)
- That Obscure Object of Desire (referenced throughout Book 3, Chapters 6-10)
- Eartha Kitt (3.6.43)
- Katharine Hepburn (3.6.43)
- Jane Fonda (3.8.139)
- Meryl Streep (3.9.2)
- Ethel Merman in Hello, Dolly! (4.1.45; 4.2.92)
- Dick Cavett (4.1.64)
- Playboy and Hugh Hefner (4.1.64; 4.1.69)
- Phil Donahue (4.1.70)
- Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster (4.2.44)
- Raquel Welch (4.2.65)
- Twiggy (4.2.65)
- Carol Channing (4.2.93; 4.3.34)
- Johnny Carson (4.3.92)
- Velvet Underground (4.3.106)
- Big Boy (4.4.1)
- The Grateful Dead (referenced throughout Book 4, Chapter 4)
- Tom Waits (4.5.17)
- The B-52s, "Rock Lobster" (4.5.34)
- AC/DC (4.5.34)
- Martha Graham (4.5.51)
- Esther Williams (4.5.109)