Post by Dante on Nov 7, 2012 10:54:24 GMT -5
The Compiled WCTBATH References Guide
NOTE: This list does not include vocabulary-based references. The page numbers indicate only the first appearance or mention of the referred name/character/book in WCTBATH. All references found by me, Terry Craig, except where noted.
p.10
S. Theodora Markson
Reference:
Possibly authors Theodora Du Bois and David Markson, as pointed out by Dante and Antenora.
p.20
"When I disembarked at Bellamy Station (...) She would be standing at the magazine rack at Bellamy Books."
Reference:
Author Edward Bellamy
This is probably the same literary reference as that of Jonah and Sadie Bellamy in The End, which, since the siblings are in conjunction with Erewhon (Samuel Butler's utopian novel Erewhon), is likely Edward Bellamy, who is most famous for the utopian science fiction novel "Looking Backward." Reference pointed out by Q.R.V.
p.37f
"I read five chapters of a book about a boy named Johnny. He lived in America when America was still England. One day he burned his hand and was no longer able to work as a silversmith, which sounded like a miserable line of work anyway, so he took an interest in local politics. I felt sorry for the guy (...)"
Reference:
"Johnny Tremain" (1943), by Esther Forbes
After losing his silversmith job, Johnny gets another job working for a newspaper office that is in fact just a cover for a secret organization.
p.38
Mrs. Murphy Sallis
Reference:
Possibly crime writer and poet James Sallis, as pointed out by Dante and Antenora.
p.42
The Mallahan family
Reference:
Possibly author and journalist James Mallahan Cain, who is usually associated with hardboiled crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of roman noir.
p.68
The Far East Suite
Reference:
"The Far East Suite," a 1966 album by Duke Ellington.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.135 and p.200.)
p.74
Dashiell Qwerty
References:
Dashiell Hammett
QWERTY, the most common modern-day keyboard layout
p.82
The Fourier Branch
Reference:
Probably French philosopher Charles Fourier
The influential thinker is credited with having originated the word feminism in 1837, as well as the concept of a Phalanstery, a place of so called "attractive work," which has been described as "a continual daycare center of intense feeling, intellection, & activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts."
He also considered children to be much more industrious, and inclined to handle and examine everything and constantly change occupations, than parents at the time thought them to be. And, on a side note, Fourier influenced Dostoevsky's novel The Possessed.
p.86
Officers Mitchum
Reference:
Probably Robert Mitchum, famous actor of many crime and noir films and "The Night of the Hunter", which influenced ASoUE.
p.94
"I had known what 'interlopers' meant since I was ten years old and read a short story by a British man with a funny false name."
Reference:
"The Interlopers" (1919 short story), by Saki (aka. Hector Hugh Munro)
p.98
BELLEROPHON TAXI
Reference:
Bellerophon (hero of Greek mythology )
Bellerophon is said to be "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters" (alongside three others), whose greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame." This is also probably alluded to with the legend of Lady Mallahan and the Bombinating Beast, which said Lady has supposedly have slain, and which is not very unlike the Chimera, making Lady Mallahan not very unlike Bellerophon.
p.99
"We is my brother and me. I'm Pecuchet Bellerophon, and he's my brother, Bouvard"
Reference:
"Bouvard et Pécuchet" (unfinished satirical work published in 1881), by Gustave Flaubert
The book's Wikipedia page says that the author "claimed to have read over 1500 books in preparation for writing it—he intended it to be his masterpiece, surpassing all of his other works." There are also similarities between some of the two books' themes, which Antenora has already pointed out here.
p.102:
"Here's a tip," I said. "Next time you're at the library, check out a book about a champion of the world."
"By that author with all the chocolate?"
"Yes, but this one's even better. It has some very good chapters in it."
Reference:
"Danny, the Champion of the World" (1975), by Roald Dahl
And the book "with all the chocolate" being Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," of course.
p.117
"The story took place in the big woods where a little house was home to a medium-sized family who liked to make things. First they made maple syrup. Then they made butter. Then they made cheese, and I shut the book."
Reference:
"Little House in the Big Woods" (1932), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
p.135 (#1)
"Black Cat Coffee"
Reference:
Maybe Edgar A. Poe's famous short story "The Black Cat," or the 1934 noir film "The Black Cat," the trailer of which is on LemonySnicketLibrary.com, or the Duke Ellington song "Black Cat Blues," or even Boris Vian's short story "Blues for a Black Cat" (see p.164), or all four.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68, p.135 (#2), and p.200.)
p.135 (#2)
"Corner of Caravan and Parfait."
Reference:
"Caravan" and "Parfait (A Little Max)," two songs by Duke Ellington
Both songs are found on Duke's (1987 and subsequent reissues of his) 1963 album "Money Jungle."
Jazz music would also fit the description of the music playing on the record player at Ellington Feint's place (p.133: "interesting and complicated", p.137: "odd jumpy music"). Ellington, who was introduced just five pages earlier, or rather her name, is also likely another reference to Duke Ellington.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68, p.135 (#1), and p.200.)
p.158
"read about someone who was a true friend and a good writer who lived on a bloodthirsty farm where nearly everyone was in danger of some sort."
Reference:
"Charlotte's Web" (1952), by E. B. White
A very apt description of a book that has also been referenced in The Unauthorized Autobiography.
p.159f
"The Long Secret is a better book than the one that comes before it"
"Although Squeak and I have always preferred the one about the tap dancer and the lawyer."
"They're all good."
References:
1. "The Long Secret" (1965), by Louise Fitzhugh
2. "Harriet the Spy" (1964), by Louise Fitzhugh
3. "Nobody's Family is Going to Change" (1974), by Louise Fitzhugh
The second book is "the one that comes before [The Long Goodbye]," as the first book is its sequel. The third book is "the one about the tap dancer and the lawyer." The second book's main character, as pointed out by Hermes, is a girl who carries a notebook around with her and records everything that happens, not unlike Lemony Snicket or even Moxie Mallahan.
p.161
"There was an advertisement for a play performed by the Stain'd Players at the Stain'd Playhouse some years earlier, starring an actress smiling in a faded photograph. The actress was playing the part of the heroine, Leslie Crosbie. Her name was Dame Sally Murphy."
Reference:
"The Letter" (1927 play), by W. Saumerset Maugham
The play was also adapted into a film noir with Bette Davis in 1940.
p.164
"And somebody's been eating your porridge."
Reference:
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (fairy tale)
As pointed out by thedoctororwell.
p.194ff
"Behind the counter was a mass of shiny machinery of a sort I had not seen, with tubes and levers and spouts and panels all loud and busy with activity (...). And in the corner was a piano playing music, but when I stepped closer, I saw it was a player piano, which can play all by itself. It sounded like it might have been the same music Ellington had been playing in the cottage (...) I stepped closer to the counter and saw large brass buttons, right in a row (...) The buttons were each labeled with a brass letter: A, B, and C. When I pressed C, the machinery behind the counter whirred to life. (. . .)"
Reference:
"Froth on the Daydream" (by Boris Vian)
This novel features a cocktail piano, where every ingredient is linked to a note. Depending on the song you play, the piano makes different cocktail recipes. Handler is known to be a cocktail aficionado and he referenced Vian in Why We Broke Up. Vian was also a jazz-player who worked as a liaison for Duke Ellington, and wrote a short story called "Blues for a Black Cat" (see p.135). Reference pointed out by thedoctororwell.
p.197
"There was a small box marked MEDICAL SUPPLIES addressed to a Dr. Flammarion."
Reference:
French astronomer and author of over fifty titles, Camille Flammarion.
p.200
"I searched for a long book that looked boring, and settled on something called An Analysis of Brown, Black, and Beige"
Reference:
"Black, Brown and Beige," a 1958 album by Duke Ellington
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68 and p.135.)
p.212
"Speaking of wild rides, if you haven't read The Wind in the Willows, you really should."
Reference:
"The Wind in the Willows" (1908), by Kenneth Grahame
A children's classic that has also been referenced on LemonySnicketLibrary.com.
p.237
"I'm reminded of a book my father used to read me. A bunch of elves and things get into a huge war over a piece of jewelry that everybody wants but nobody can wear."
Reference:
"The Lord of the Rings" (1954/'55), by J.R.R. Tolkien
An obvious reference to the famous epic high fantasy novel, the kind of which the young Lemony dislikes for "always [having] a wizard who's very powerful but not very helpful" (probably the character of Gandalf in this case).
p.252
"Haruki's worried."
Reference:
Author Haruki Murakami
Daniel Handler has been cited several times as being a big fan of the popular contemporary writer. The name "Haruki Murakami" is also listed in The Hostile Hospital as one of the patients in Heimlich Hospital.
Miscellaneous Notes
While the Bombinating Beast is described as a kind of monstrous seahorse, and illustrated as something like a dragon or sea-serpent, there are two ways in which it's connected to the Chimera:
1. "Bombinating" is an anglicized form of the Latin "bombinans," which was coined by the French satirical writer Rabelais in reference to a chimera.
2. It is described as an improbable hybrid: either "half horse and half shark" or "half alligator and half bear." The term "chimera" can refer to hybrid creatures in general.
Reference pointed out by Antenora.
NOTE: This list does not include vocabulary-based references. The page numbers indicate only the first appearance or mention of the referred name/character/book in WCTBATH. All references found by me, Terry Craig, except where noted.
p.10
S. Theodora Markson
Reference:
Possibly authors Theodora Du Bois and David Markson, as pointed out by Dante and Antenora.
p.20
"When I disembarked at Bellamy Station (...) She would be standing at the magazine rack at Bellamy Books."
Reference:
Author Edward Bellamy
This is probably the same literary reference as that of Jonah and Sadie Bellamy in The End, which, since the siblings are in conjunction with Erewhon (Samuel Butler's utopian novel Erewhon), is likely Edward Bellamy, who is most famous for the utopian science fiction novel "Looking Backward." Reference pointed out by Q.R.V.
p.37f
"I read five chapters of a book about a boy named Johnny. He lived in America when America was still England. One day he burned his hand and was no longer able to work as a silversmith, which sounded like a miserable line of work anyway, so he took an interest in local politics. I felt sorry for the guy (...)"
Reference:
"Johnny Tremain" (1943), by Esther Forbes
After losing his silversmith job, Johnny gets another job working for a newspaper office that is in fact just a cover for a secret organization.
p.38
Mrs. Murphy Sallis
Reference:
Possibly crime writer and poet James Sallis, as pointed out by Dante and Antenora.
p.42
The Mallahan family
Reference:
Possibly author and journalist James Mallahan Cain, who is usually associated with hardboiled crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of roman noir.
p.68
The Far East Suite
Reference:
"The Far East Suite," a 1966 album by Duke Ellington.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.135 and p.200.)
p.74
Dashiell Qwerty
References:
Dashiell Hammett
QWERTY, the most common modern-day keyboard layout
p.82
The Fourier Branch
Reference:
Probably French philosopher Charles Fourier
The influential thinker is credited with having originated the word feminism in 1837, as well as the concept of a Phalanstery, a place of so called "attractive work," which has been described as "a continual daycare center of intense feeling, intellection, & activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts."
He also considered children to be much more industrious, and inclined to handle and examine everything and constantly change occupations, than parents at the time thought them to be. And, on a side note, Fourier influenced Dostoevsky's novel The Possessed.
p.86
Officers Mitchum
Reference:
Probably Robert Mitchum, famous actor of many crime and noir films and "The Night of the Hunter", which influenced ASoUE.
p.94
"I had known what 'interlopers' meant since I was ten years old and read a short story by a British man with a funny false name."
Reference:
"The Interlopers" (1919 short story), by Saki (aka. Hector Hugh Munro)
p.98
BELLEROPHON TAXI
Reference:
Bellerophon (hero of Greek mythology )
Bellerophon is said to be "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters" (alongside three others), whose greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame." This is also probably alluded to with the legend of Lady Mallahan and the Bombinating Beast, which said Lady has supposedly have slain, and which is not very unlike the Chimera, making Lady Mallahan not very unlike Bellerophon.
p.99
"We is my brother and me. I'm Pecuchet Bellerophon, and he's my brother, Bouvard"
Reference:
"Bouvard et Pécuchet" (unfinished satirical work published in 1881), by Gustave Flaubert
The book's Wikipedia page says that the author "claimed to have read over 1500 books in preparation for writing it—he intended it to be his masterpiece, surpassing all of his other works." There are also similarities between some of the two books' themes, which Antenora has already pointed out here.
p.102:
"Here's a tip," I said. "Next time you're at the library, check out a book about a champion of the world."
"By that author with all the chocolate?"
"Yes, but this one's even better. It has some very good chapters in it."
Reference:
"Danny, the Champion of the World" (1975), by Roald Dahl
And the book "with all the chocolate" being Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," of course.
p.117
"The story took place in the big woods where a little house was home to a medium-sized family who liked to make things. First they made maple syrup. Then they made butter. Then they made cheese, and I shut the book."
Reference:
"Little House in the Big Woods" (1932), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
p.135 (#1)
"Black Cat Coffee"
Reference:
Maybe Edgar A. Poe's famous short story "The Black Cat," or the 1934 noir film "The Black Cat," the trailer of which is on LemonySnicketLibrary.com, or the Duke Ellington song "Black Cat Blues," or even Boris Vian's short story "Blues for a Black Cat" (see p.164), or all four.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68, p.135 (#2), and p.200.)
p.135 (#2)
"Corner of Caravan and Parfait."
Reference:
"Caravan" and "Parfait (A Little Max)," two songs by Duke Ellington
Both songs are found on Duke's (1987 and subsequent reissues of his) 1963 album "Money Jungle."
Jazz music would also fit the description of the music playing on the record player at Ellington Feint's place (p.133: "interesting and complicated", p.137: "odd jumpy music"). Ellington, who was introduced just five pages earlier, or rather her name, is also likely another reference to Duke Ellington.
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68, p.135 (#1), and p.200.)
p.158
"read about someone who was a true friend and a good writer who lived on a bloodthirsty farm where nearly everyone was in danger of some sort."
Reference:
"Charlotte's Web" (1952), by E. B. White
A very apt description of a book that has also been referenced in The Unauthorized Autobiography.
p.159f
"The Long Secret is a better book than the one that comes before it"
"Although Squeak and I have always preferred the one about the tap dancer and the lawyer."
"They're all good."
References:
1. "The Long Secret" (1965), by Louise Fitzhugh
2. "Harriet the Spy" (1964), by Louise Fitzhugh
3. "Nobody's Family is Going to Change" (1974), by Louise Fitzhugh
The second book is "the one that comes before [The Long Goodbye]," as the first book is its sequel. The third book is "the one about the tap dancer and the lawyer." The second book's main character, as pointed out by Hermes, is a girl who carries a notebook around with her and records everything that happens, not unlike Lemony Snicket or even Moxie Mallahan.
p.161
"There was an advertisement for a play performed by the Stain'd Players at the Stain'd Playhouse some years earlier, starring an actress smiling in a faded photograph. The actress was playing the part of the heroine, Leslie Crosbie. Her name was Dame Sally Murphy."
Reference:
"The Letter" (1927 play), by W. Saumerset Maugham
The play was also adapted into a film noir with Bette Davis in 1940.
p.164
"And somebody's been eating your porridge."
Reference:
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (fairy tale)
As pointed out by thedoctororwell.
p.194ff
"Behind the counter was a mass of shiny machinery of a sort I had not seen, with tubes and levers and spouts and panels all loud and busy with activity (...). And in the corner was a piano playing music, but when I stepped closer, I saw it was a player piano, which can play all by itself. It sounded like it might have been the same music Ellington had been playing in the cottage (...) I stepped closer to the counter and saw large brass buttons, right in a row (...) The buttons were each labeled with a brass letter: A, B, and C. When I pressed C, the machinery behind the counter whirred to life. (. . .)"
Reference:
"Froth on the Daydream" (by Boris Vian)
This novel features a cocktail piano, where every ingredient is linked to a note. Depending on the song you play, the piano makes different cocktail recipes. Handler is known to be a cocktail aficionado and he referenced Vian in Why We Broke Up. Vian was also a jazz-player who worked as a liaison for Duke Ellington, and wrote a short story called "Blues for a Black Cat" (see p.135). Reference pointed out by thedoctororwell.
p.197
"There was a small box marked MEDICAL SUPPLIES addressed to a Dr. Flammarion."
Reference:
French astronomer and author of over fifty titles, Camille Flammarion.
p.200
"I searched for a long book that looked boring, and settled on something called An Analysis of Brown, Black, and Beige"
Reference:
"Black, Brown and Beige," a 1958 album by Duke Ellington
(For further Duke Ellington references see p.68 and p.135.)
p.212
"Speaking of wild rides, if you haven't read The Wind in the Willows, you really should."
Reference:
"The Wind in the Willows" (1908), by Kenneth Grahame
A children's classic that has also been referenced on LemonySnicketLibrary.com.
p.237
"I'm reminded of a book my father used to read me. A bunch of elves and things get into a huge war over a piece of jewelry that everybody wants but nobody can wear."
Reference:
"The Lord of the Rings" (1954/'55), by J.R.R. Tolkien
An obvious reference to the famous epic high fantasy novel, the kind of which the young Lemony dislikes for "always [having] a wizard who's very powerful but not very helpful" (probably the character of Gandalf in this case).
p.252
"Haruki's worried."
Reference:
Author Haruki Murakami
Daniel Handler has been cited several times as being a big fan of the popular contemporary writer. The name "Haruki Murakami" is also listed in The Hostile Hospital as one of the patients in Heimlich Hospital.
Miscellaneous Notes
While the Bombinating Beast is described as a kind of monstrous seahorse, and illustrated as something like a dragon or sea-serpent, there are two ways in which it's connected to the Chimera:
1. "Bombinating" is an anglicized form of the Latin "bombinans," which was coined by the French satirical writer Rabelais in reference to a chimera.
2. It is described as an improbable hybrid: either "half horse and half shark" or "half alligator and half bear." The term "chimera" can refer to hybrid creatures in general.
Reference pointed out by Antenora.