File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents REFERENCE GUIDE
Apr 5, 2014 22:58:21 GMT -5
Optimism is my Phil-osophy likes this
Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 5, 2014 22:58:21 GMT -5
I considered posting this in the appropriate Discussion thread like I did with ?1 and ?2, but due to the size of this post and having realized that this is rather observation than discussion, I decided to make it its own thread. Of course, any additions are welcome and will be added into the main post with credit. Enjoy.
"Inside Job"
p.7 - “I’m Marguerite Gracq,” she said. “I spell it in the French way.”
Likely a reference to Julien Gracq, the French surrealist writer, whose most famous novel, "The Opposing Shore" (1951), is set in an old fortress close to sea in a no man's land projecting a mysterious atmosphere. NOTE: In a previous draft of FU13:SI, seen in an early preview, the character's name was "Colette Gracq". Colette is also the name of a character in "The Carnivorous Carnival."
Furthermore, thedoctororwell explains the possible origins of the new first name: "Marguerite Duras or Marguerite Yourcenar, two other great french writers and contemporaries of Julien Gracq. Marguerite Duras sounds more probable; indeed she and Julien Gracq both belong to a genre known as the "Nouveau Roman," a literary equivalent to the "New Wave" in music (which Handler is very much fond of). Handler is a fan of the genre, since he referenced another "Nouveau Roman" writer, Alain Robbe-Grillet, in WDYSHL. The "Nouveau Roman" was mainly a call to shake the foundations of the novel's characteristics - that is, to experiment with the style, the object, the layout, the plot, the notion of protagonist, etc. In a way, Handler's work is definitely part of the "Nouveau Roman" atmosphere."
p.13 - Henry Parland (...) Paavo Cajander, Katri Vala, Eino Leino, Otto Manninen, (...) Larin Paraske
All names of Finnish poets, which is also pointed out by Lemony Snicket right after on p.14. Henry Parland's poem "My Hat" appears in Lemony Snicket's poetry compilation "Poetry Not Written for Children that Children Might Nevertheless Enjoy" for Poetry Magazine (September 2013).
"Pinched Creature"
p. 18 - veterinarians (...) Doctors Sobol
As pointed out by thedoctororwell, this is a possible allusion to Donald J. Sobol, who wrote the successful children's book series called "Encyclopedia Brown," with its first book published in 1963. Each book in the series consists of a number of short stories, each of which is a mystery that the reader can solve, just like in "File Under 13" itself.
p.24f - "There aren't any optometrists left in town," Moxie told me. "The closest eye doctor is way over in Paltryville, but she doesn't have a very good reputation."
As Hermes points out, this is of course a cross-reference to Lemony Snicket's "The Miserable Mill," which is set in Paltryville and features the evil optometrist and hypnotist Dr. Georgina Orwell.
"Ransom Note"
p. 30 - Moray Wheels [garage]
A pun on Moray eels, due to ATWQ's aquatic theme
p. 33 - Lysistrata [watchdog]
Reference to the eponymous comedy by Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes about the eponymous main character, which turns out an improbable savior of Athens. He also wrote a similar comedy called 'The Knights,' which may or may not have been an influence on the Knight family in ATWQ (Cleo Knight and her car being mentioned on this very same page).
p. 33 - Dugga Drills [drills made by a company called Dugga]
This is a guess, but it could be a nod to the influential British post-punk group Wire, which have a song called "Drill" with the chorus "Drill drill drill, dugga dugga dugga," from their album "The Drill." The words "drill" and "dugga" are also repeated throughout the album (f.ex. in the song "Did You Dugga?"). Daniel Handler has expressed great affinity for other, similar (experimental post-punk) bands of the same time period in interviews before (also as Lemony Snicket actually), like Laurie Anderson and New Order.
p. 37 - the Magritte Derby
Likely a reference to the famous Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte
"Walkie Talkie"
p.44 - "No way, Fay Wray," Hix said to Stew, using one of his favorite expressions
Reference to Fay Wray, the famed Hollywood actress, renowned for playing horror film roles, and most noted for playing the female lead in 1933's "King Kong."
p.46 - "I'm trying one of those books you recommended about the clever kid in Utah. Don't squawk but so far I'm not liking it very much."
Possibly a reference to "The Great Brain" (1906-1988), a series of children's books by John Dennis Fitzgerald, set in a fictitious town in Utah, about the escapades of the narrator's mischievous older brother who is an intelligent, money-loving swindler, but also demonstrates great humanity and genorosity.
"Bad Gang"
p.61 - "And I'm telling you, Mimi," Harvey Mitchum was saying when I approached, "that he only thought he heard the heart beating in his room. It wasn't actually beating."
"You're wrong about that," Mimi said. "I read the story better than you did."
Bandit points out that this is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's famous Gothic short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart."
p.74 - "Sorry, Mother. I got distracted by a good part of my book. Peter is just escaping from Barbados and has decided to be a buccaneer."
"It's about to get even better," I said.
- Reference to the 1922 novel "Captain Blood" by Rafael Sabatini.
"Silver Spoon"
p.77 - It was a book people kept putting in my hands and telling me I was going to love, the way the doctor tells you the needle won't hurt a bit. The book began (...) with a man carrying around a drawing of a snake that had just eaten, and asking people what they thought of it.
- Reference to the modern classic 1943 French children's novella "The Little Prince", which starts with a boy showing his drawing of a snake that's eaten an elephant, only for adults to mistake it for the drawing of a hat.
p.78 - "I'm still not sure I'm ready for that book about a woman who falls asleep and kills a horse."
Likely a reference to Thomas Hardy's acclaimed 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", which contains a cataclysmic scene where the protagonist, Tess, falls asleep at the reins, and the family's only horse encounters a speeding wagon and is killed.
p.82f - "Last night you stopped at that part where the bookcase fell on him."
Possibly a reference to the highly acclaimed 1910 novel "Howards End," by E.M. Forster, about class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England. It contains an important scene where a bookcase collapses in a heap on top of a character called Leonard. The book was adapted into film, TV, and theatre.
p.85 - "His name is Ashbery," Randall said [about his dog].
Reference to the Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet John Ashbery, who is renowned for his postmodern complexity, surrealism, and incredibly diverse vocabulary. Ashbery's poem "This Room" appears in Lemony Snicket's poetry compilation "Poetry Not Written for Children that Children Might Nevertheless Enjoy" for Poetry Magazine (September 2013). Said poem includes the line: "The oval portrait of a dog was me at an early age."
p.86 - "No," Randall said. "I was working in town. I'm a poet by trade"
Likely reference to U.S. Poet Laureate Randall Jarrell, who was also a children's author, literary critic, essayist, and novelist.
p.86f - "(...) Dicey Department Store had me wash their windows for a few coins and some canned goods they had lying around."
Trane says: "There is a children's book called Homecoming [by Cynthia Voigt (1981)], about four siblings who travel the road by themselves in order to search for home/their mother. The main character is a girl named Dicey who earns money a few times by washing windows. I'm pretty sure he was referencing that along with a drifter talking about it."
p.86ff - Smogface Wiley [who is part of wealthy family that owns businesses all over the area, incl. lumber; habitually smokes cigarillos, which create a small cloud of smoke that sticks around his nose]
Indicates that Smogface is, or grows up to be "Sir," the cigar-smoking and smoke enveloped boss of Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville, who appears in Lemony Snicket's "The Miserable Mill." Although Dante points out that Snicket said in TMM, that he never saw Sir's face, as well as that Sir claims to have an unpronounceable name, and if Sir were Smogface Wiley, people could simply address him as Mr. Wiley, as Snicket does in the Incident in question.
p.93 - "My friend Mr. Samsa has taken ill"
Reference to the protagonist of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa, who falls "ill" right at the start of the book, in that he wakes up one morning finding himself transformed into a big insect.
p.95 - "Ask Dr. Auchincloss. Ask Madame Blavatsky. Ask any of the twenty-two other people on my guest list."
Louis Auchincloss was a prolific novelist (as well as historian and lawyer) whose fictional and non-fictional works explored the lives of Wall Street Bankers, lawyers and stockbrokers, in a dry and ironic tone. This fits with Smogface and the Wiley family's lavish, business-oriented lifestyle.
Helena Blavatsky, on the other hand, is an influential Russian occultist writer and co-founder of the Theosophical Society. The intention behind this, as well as the Auchincloss reference, could be to show the Wiley family's connections to powerful and influential people.
"Violent Butcher"
p.99 - "My job's being a butcher," the man said (...) "My name's Mack."
Might be a reference to "Mack the Knife," from Kurt Weill's 1928 "The Three-Penny Opera." Dante suggests it might also be a reference to, and pun on, McDonald's famous "Big Mac" hamburger, since Mack is described as being an exceptionally "big man" (p.98) and his profession is that of a butcher.
p.100 - "Mine's a boy named Drumstick, and he's preternaturally short, with curly red hair (...)"
Could be a reference to the protagonist of Günter Grass' "The Tin Drum," who as a child decides to stop growing (by getting in an accident) and retains the stature of a child throughout WWII, and who carries and plays a tin drum throughout the novel. This and "The Three-Penny Opera" are both famous German works of fiction.
"Twelve or Thirteen"
p.111 - Ethan Frome Festival
Reference to the 1911 novel "Ethan Frome" by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton, set in a fictitious town in Massachusetts.
p.112 - "distinguished items as an oil painting of Gary Dorian, Stain'd-by-the-Sea's famed cosmetician."
Reference to Oscar Wilde's classic Gothic novel "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," in which the titular character possesses a magical portrait that gets older instead of him, but also serves as reminder of every one of his sinful acts affecting his soul, displaying them as disfigurements of his countenance.
p.117 - Chase B. Willow
Might be a subtle reference to Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows," in which the character Mr. Toad is a car driving enthusiast who gets put in jail, like Chase, and from which he also escapes. "The Wind in the Willows" is also directly referenced on ATWQ's website twice.
p.118 - Officers Durham
Might be a reference to David Durham, the pseudonym of English mystery writer William Edward Vickers.
p.126 - "1. Mrs. Williams, 2. Dr. Carlos, 3. Mr. Williams, 4. Mr. Willow, 5. Mrs. Summerover, 6. Dr. River, 7. Mr. Noleaf, 8. Dr. Bitten, 9. Mr. Crimson, 10. Mrs. Cling, 11. Mr. Paler, 12. Mr. Loth"
Elaborate reference to William Carlos Williams and his "Willow Poem".
"Midnight Demon"
p.133 - Baron von Pendle
Might be a reference to the trials of the Pendle witches in 1612, which are (according to Wikipedia) "among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century." This might be in reference to the Baron character seeing Tatiana walking the streets at night and her guardian believing it to be in fact a demon.
p.147 - "I hope your demon hunt went better than my reading," he said. "This book was just spoiled by the arrival of Santa Claus."
As fragilethings points out, it's a likely reference to C.S. Lewis' 1950 high fantasy children's novel "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" from his famous "Chronicles of Narnia" book series. Lemony has talked about this novel and his dislike of "the arrival of Father Christmas" in it before, in his article "13 Passages from Children's Literature that are More Dreadful and Shocking Than They May First Appear" (thanks for pointing it out, thedoctororwell), published by The Huffington Post. (In WCTBATH Lemony similarly disapproves of The Lord of the Rings' character Gandalf as well.)
"Three Suspects"
p.156 - "Mimi and I stayed up very late watching a double feature of scary movies." "Something with zombies in the winter"
Cross-reference to the fictitious film "Zombies in the Snow" directed by Dr. Gustav Sebald, which is mentioned in Lemony Snicket's "The Reptile Room" as well as "The Unauthorized Autobiography."
p.157 - "Who is your favourite French writer?" "Alain-Fournier" (...) "Who is your favorite jazz saxophonist?" "Harry Carney"
Very straightforward references in a very straightforward chapter.
"Vanished Message"
p. 159: "Theodora had simply poured a helping of Schoenberg Cereal onto the bureau..."
Arnold Schoenberg was a 20th century Austrian composer who wrote 12-tone music. He arranged the twelve notes C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B into a series or "tone row", and based his composition of this series. This was referred to as "serialism" or "serial music." "Schoenberg Cereal" is a play on "Schoenberg Serial." (Thanks to tc for this entry) - Schoenberg cereal has been mentioned before, however, in ?2:WDYSHL.
p.164 - the Swinster Pharmacy
Cross-reference to Lemony Snicket's recently released picture book "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy."
p.164 - Lois Dressing
As pointed out by Hermes, the name is an anagram of the British Nobel Prize-winning literary and science-fiction writer Doris Lessing. tc comments on the word 'Yamgraz' as follows: This is probably quite a reach, but one anagram of "Yamgraz" is "Magyarz". Lessing left the British Communist Party in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The Hungarian word for the Hungarian people is "Magyars."
p.192 - The book had begun with a brute of a man who attacked a little girl, and then felt bad about it and offered her family a huge sum of money that he'd stole from a famous scientist.
As Bandit points out, this is a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
FILE UNDER: 13 SUSPICIOUS INCIDENTS - Reference Guide
"Inside Job"
p.7 - “I’m Marguerite Gracq,” she said. “I spell it in the French way.”
Likely a reference to Julien Gracq, the French surrealist writer, whose most famous novel, "The Opposing Shore" (1951), is set in an old fortress close to sea in a no man's land projecting a mysterious atmosphere. NOTE: In a previous draft of FU13:SI, seen in an early preview, the character's name was "Colette Gracq". Colette is also the name of a character in "The Carnivorous Carnival."
Furthermore, thedoctororwell explains the possible origins of the new first name: "Marguerite Duras or Marguerite Yourcenar, two other great french writers and contemporaries of Julien Gracq. Marguerite Duras sounds more probable; indeed she and Julien Gracq both belong to a genre known as the "Nouveau Roman," a literary equivalent to the "New Wave" in music (which Handler is very much fond of). Handler is a fan of the genre, since he referenced another "Nouveau Roman" writer, Alain Robbe-Grillet, in WDYSHL. The "Nouveau Roman" was mainly a call to shake the foundations of the novel's characteristics - that is, to experiment with the style, the object, the layout, the plot, the notion of protagonist, etc. In a way, Handler's work is definitely part of the "Nouveau Roman" atmosphere."
p.13 - Henry Parland (...) Paavo Cajander, Katri Vala, Eino Leino, Otto Manninen, (...) Larin Paraske
All names of Finnish poets, which is also pointed out by Lemony Snicket right after on p.14. Henry Parland's poem "My Hat" appears in Lemony Snicket's poetry compilation "Poetry Not Written for Children that Children Might Nevertheless Enjoy" for Poetry Magazine (September 2013).
"Pinched Creature"
p. 18 - veterinarians (...) Doctors Sobol
As pointed out by thedoctororwell, this is a possible allusion to Donald J. Sobol, who wrote the successful children's book series called "Encyclopedia Brown," with its first book published in 1963. Each book in the series consists of a number of short stories, each of which is a mystery that the reader can solve, just like in "File Under 13" itself.
p.24f - "There aren't any optometrists left in town," Moxie told me. "The closest eye doctor is way over in Paltryville, but she doesn't have a very good reputation."
As Hermes points out, this is of course a cross-reference to Lemony Snicket's "The Miserable Mill," which is set in Paltryville and features the evil optometrist and hypnotist Dr. Georgina Orwell.
"Ransom Note"
p. 30 - Moray Wheels [garage]
A pun on Moray eels, due to ATWQ's aquatic theme
p. 33 - Lysistrata [watchdog]
Reference to the eponymous comedy by Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes about the eponymous main character, which turns out an improbable savior of Athens. He also wrote a similar comedy called 'The Knights,' which may or may not have been an influence on the Knight family in ATWQ (Cleo Knight and her car being mentioned on this very same page).
p. 33 - Dugga Drills [drills made by a company called Dugga]
This is a guess, but it could be a nod to the influential British post-punk group Wire, which have a song called "Drill" with the chorus "Drill drill drill, dugga dugga dugga," from their album "The Drill." The words "drill" and "dugga" are also repeated throughout the album (f.ex. in the song "Did You Dugga?"). Daniel Handler has expressed great affinity for other, similar (experimental post-punk) bands of the same time period in interviews before (also as Lemony Snicket actually), like Laurie Anderson and New Order.
p. 37 - the Magritte Derby
Likely a reference to the famous Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte
"Walkie Talkie"
p.44 - "No way, Fay Wray," Hix said to Stew, using one of his favorite expressions
Reference to Fay Wray, the famed Hollywood actress, renowned for playing horror film roles, and most noted for playing the female lead in 1933's "King Kong."
p.46 - "I'm trying one of those books you recommended about the clever kid in Utah. Don't squawk but so far I'm not liking it very much."
Possibly a reference to "The Great Brain" (1906-1988), a series of children's books by John Dennis Fitzgerald, set in a fictitious town in Utah, about the escapades of the narrator's mischievous older brother who is an intelligent, money-loving swindler, but also demonstrates great humanity and genorosity.
"Bad Gang"
p.61 - "And I'm telling you, Mimi," Harvey Mitchum was saying when I approached, "that he only thought he heard the heart beating in his room. It wasn't actually beating."
"You're wrong about that," Mimi said. "I read the story better than you did."
Bandit points out that this is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's famous Gothic short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart."
p.74 - "Sorry, Mother. I got distracted by a good part of my book. Peter is just escaping from Barbados and has decided to be a buccaneer."
"It's about to get even better," I said.
- Reference to the 1922 novel "Captain Blood" by Rafael Sabatini.
"Silver Spoon"
p.77 - It was a book people kept putting in my hands and telling me I was going to love, the way the doctor tells you the needle won't hurt a bit. The book began (...) with a man carrying around a drawing of a snake that had just eaten, and asking people what they thought of it.
- Reference to the modern classic 1943 French children's novella "The Little Prince", which starts with a boy showing his drawing of a snake that's eaten an elephant, only for adults to mistake it for the drawing of a hat.
p.78 - "I'm still not sure I'm ready for that book about a woman who falls asleep and kills a horse."
Likely a reference to Thomas Hardy's acclaimed 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", which contains a cataclysmic scene where the protagonist, Tess, falls asleep at the reins, and the family's only horse encounters a speeding wagon and is killed.
p.82f - "Last night you stopped at that part where the bookcase fell on him."
Possibly a reference to the highly acclaimed 1910 novel "Howards End," by E.M. Forster, about class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England. It contains an important scene where a bookcase collapses in a heap on top of a character called Leonard. The book was adapted into film, TV, and theatre.
p.85 - "His name is Ashbery," Randall said [about his dog].
Reference to the Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet John Ashbery, who is renowned for his postmodern complexity, surrealism, and incredibly diverse vocabulary. Ashbery's poem "This Room" appears in Lemony Snicket's poetry compilation "Poetry Not Written for Children that Children Might Nevertheless Enjoy" for Poetry Magazine (September 2013). Said poem includes the line: "The oval portrait of a dog was me at an early age."
p.86 - "No," Randall said. "I was working in town. I'm a poet by trade"
Likely reference to U.S. Poet Laureate Randall Jarrell, who was also a children's author, literary critic, essayist, and novelist.
p.86f - "(...) Dicey Department Store had me wash their windows for a few coins and some canned goods they had lying around."
Trane says: "There is a children's book called Homecoming [by Cynthia Voigt (1981)], about four siblings who travel the road by themselves in order to search for home/their mother. The main character is a girl named Dicey who earns money a few times by washing windows. I'm pretty sure he was referencing that along with a drifter talking about it."
p.86ff - Smogface Wiley [who is part of wealthy family that owns businesses all over the area, incl. lumber; habitually smokes cigarillos, which create a small cloud of smoke that sticks around his nose]
Indicates that Smogface is, or grows up to be "Sir," the cigar-smoking and smoke enveloped boss of Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville, who appears in Lemony Snicket's "The Miserable Mill." Although Dante points out that Snicket said in TMM, that he never saw Sir's face, as well as that Sir claims to have an unpronounceable name, and if Sir were Smogface Wiley, people could simply address him as Mr. Wiley, as Snicket does in the Incident in question.
p.93 - "My friend Mr. Samsa has taken ill"
Reference to the protagonist of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa, who falls "ill" right at the start of the book, in that he wakes up one morning finding himself transformed into a big insect.
p.95 - "Ask Dr. Auchincloss. Ask Madame Blavatsky. Ask any of the twenty-two other people on my guest list."
Louis Auchincloss was a prolific novelist (as well as historian and lawyer) whose fictional and non-fictional works explored the lives of Wall Street Bankers, lawyers and stockbrokers, in a dry and ironic tone. This fits with Smogface and the Wiley family's lavish, business-oriented lifestyle.
Helena Blavatsky, on the other hand, is an influential Russian occultist writer and co-founder of the Theosophical Society. The intention behind this, as well as the Auchincloss reference, could be to show the Wiley family's connections to powerful and influential people.
"Violent Butcher"
p.99 - "My job's being a butcher," the man said (...) "My name's Mack."
Might be a reference to "Mack the Knife," from Kurt Weill's 1928 "The Three-Penny Opera." Dante suggests it might also be a reference to, and pun on, McDonald's famous "Big Mac" hamburger, since Mack is described as being an exceptionally "big man" (p.98) and his profession is that of a butcher.
p.100 - "Mine's a boy named Drumstick, and he's preternaturally short, with curly red hair (...)"
Could be a reference to the protagonist of Günter Grass' "The Tin Drum," who as a child decides to stop growing (by getting in an accident) and retains the stature of a child throughout WWII, and who carries and plays a tin drum throughout the novel. This and "The Three-Penny Opera" are both famous German works of fiction.
"Twelve or Thirteen"
p.111 - Ethan Frome Festival
Reference to the 1911 novel "Ethan Frome" by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton, set in a fictitious town in Massachusetts.
p.112 - "distinguished items as an oil painting of Gary Dorian, Stain'd-by-the-Sea's famed cosmetician."
Reference to Oscar Wilde's classic Gothic novel "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," in which the titular character possesses a magical portrait that gets older instead of him, but also serves as reminder of every one of his sinful acts affecting his soul, displaying them as disfigurements of his countenance.
p.117 - Chase B. Willow
Might be a subtle reference to Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows," in which the character Mr. Toad is a car driving enthusiast who gets put in jail, like Chase, and from which he also escapes. "The Wind in the Willows" is also directly referenced on ATWQ's website twice.
p.118 - Officers Durham
Might be a reference to David Durham, the pseudonym of English mystery writer William Edward Vickers.
p.126 - "1. Mrs. Williams, 2. Dr. Carlos, 3. Mr. Williams, 4. Mr. Willow, 5. Mrs. Summerover, 6. Dr. River, 7. Mr. Noleaf, 8. Dr. Bitten, 9. Mr. Crimson, 10. Mrs. Cling, 11. Mr. Paler, 12. Mr. Loth"
Elaborate reference to William Carlos Williams and his "Willow Poem".
"Midnight Demon"
p.133 - Baron von Pendle
Might be a reference to the trials of the Pendle witches in 1612, which are (according to Wikipedia) "among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century." This might be in reference to the Baron character seeing Tatiana walking the streets at night and her guardian believing it to be in fact a demon.
p.147 - "I hope your demon hunt went better than my reading," he said. "This book was just spoiled by the arrival of Santa Claus."
As fragilethings points out, it's a likely reference to C.S. Lewis' 1950 high fantasy children's novel "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" from his famous "Chronicles of Narnia" book series. Lemony has talked about this novel and his dislike of "the arrival of Father Christmas" in it before, in his article "13 Passages from Children's Literature that are More Dreadful and Shocking Than They May First Appear" (thanks for pointing it out, thedoctororwell), published by The Huffington Post. (In WCTBATH Lemony similarly disapproves of The Lord of the Rings' character Gandalf as well.)
"Three Suspects"
p.156 - "Mimi and I stayed up very late watching a double feature of scary movies." "Something with zombies in the winter"
Cross-reference to the fictitious film "Zombies in the Snow" directed by Dr. Gustav Sebald, which is mentioned in Lemony Snicket's "The Reptile Room" as well as "The Unauthorized Autobiography."
p.157 - "Who is your favourite French writer?" "Alain-Fournier" (...) "Who is your favorite jazz saxophonist?" "Harry Carney"
Very straightforward references in a very straightforward chapter.
"Vanished Message"
p. 159: "Theodora had simply poured a helping of Schoenberg Cereal onto the bureau..."
Arnold Schoenberg was a 20th century Austrian composer who wrote 12-tone music. He arranged the twelve notes C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B into a series or "tone row", and based his composition of this series. This was referred to as "serialism" or "serial music." "Schoenberg Cereal" is a play on "Schoenberg Serial." (Thanks to tc for this entry) - Schoenberg cereal has been mentioned before, however, in ?2:WDYSHL.
p.164 - the Swinster Pharmacy
Cross-reference to Lemony Snicket's recently released picture book "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy."
p.164 - Lois Dressing
As pointed out by Hermes, the name is an anagram of the British Nobel Prize-winning literary and science-fiction writer Doris Lessing. tc comments on the word 'Yamgraz' as follows: This is probably quite a reach, but one anagram of "Yamgraz" is "Magyarz". Lessing left the British Communist Party in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The Hungarian word for the Hungarian people is "Magyars."
p.192 - The book had begun with a brute of a man who attacked a little girl, and then felt bad about it and offered her family a huge sum of money that he'd stole from a famous scientist.
As Bandit points out, this is a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.