Pages 343 – 357: This section also subtitled “Gaudeamus Igitur”, but this describes Boston AA. After a description of a game about the end of the world, a description of real life and the possibilities of putting lives back together, so it isn’t so odd that both sections have the same subtitle.
Page 344, 15 lines from bottom: imbricate, overlapping like roof tiles, describes plant or animal parts that overlap in a regular pattern.
Page 346 line 18: formicative, (yes, with an m) a feeling of insects crawling on skin, a neurologically based hallucination in which somebody feels as if insects are crawling on his or her skin.
Page 347 line 22: The Face in the Floor, also on p. 62, where it appeared first.
Page 347 line 23: “…and the face is your own face in the mirror…” See p. 1025, note 129, and how Pemulis dickies with the mirror over the bureau in the little recessed part of your subdorm room so that when you look in the mirror in the A.M. to comb or tend to a blackhead or something you see something staring back at you that you’ll never entirely get over. Another point of commonality between widely divergent E.T.A. and Ennet House.
Page 348 line 9: Balaclavan, (with the initial capital) the Turkish infantry in the Crimean War from the village of Balaclava, where the Charge of the Light Brigade was conducted. See wikipedia .
Page 348 line 10: prognathous, having projecting jaw, describes a jaw that sticks out markedly.
Page 350 line 5: A Cage reference.
Page 351 bottom: Only in Boston AA can you hear a fifty-year-old immigrant wax lyrical about his first solid bowel movement in adult life.
Page 352, 4 lines from bottom – page 354 line 10: One incredibly long sentence.
Page 353, 9 lines from bottom: fremitic, in the manner of a vibration or tremor, resulting from a physical action such as speaking or coughing, felt by hand and used to assess whether the chest is affected by disease.
Page 354 line 7: majisculed, in the manner of large printed letter: a large letter used in writing or printing, for example, a capital letter or any of the large rounded letters used in ancient manuscripts.
Page 357 line 7: "Like most young people genetically hardwired for a secret drug problem..." Do Hal's genetics have anything to do with his condition at the beginning of the book?
Page 359, 11 lines from bottom: another Cage reference.
Page 362, 14 lines from bottom: venulated, with a large number of small blood vessels visible.
Page 363 line 21: Another reference to Clenette Henderson
Page 364 line 4: refers to Gately’s dream on p. 358 line 15 – p.359 line 12.
Page 366 line 8: apicals, consonant sounds pronounced with the tip of the tongue, e.g. “t” or “d”.
Page 366 line 29: “…put her head in a RadaRange.” That’s how James O. Incandenza did himself in.
Page 366, 2 lines from bottom: Another Cage reference.
Page 367 line 5: caparison, decorative covering for a horse; harness or saddle decorations; elaborate clothing.
Page 368 line 15: cunctations, hesitations or procrastination in the performance of some things.
Page 371 line 14 submammalian; DFW seems to have a thing for this genus.
Page 372, 9 lines from bottom: Go ahead, work out the acronym for this 12-step group. (Starts on p. 370, first full paragraph.)
Page 1024 line 13, note 145: orthochromatic, reproducing accurately the colors found naturally in a subject; describes film that is sensitive to all the visible colors except red.
Page 1027 line 13: après-garde, probably a DFW neologism meaning the opposite of avant-garde.
Page 1027 line 14: atavism, the recurrence of a genetically controlled feature in an organism after it has been absent for several generations, usually because of an accidental recombination of genes. But what does it mean to be intentionally atavistic? OK, it can happen. Atavism isn’t only genetic.
Page 1027 line 15: chiaroscuro, artistic use of light and shade: the use of light and shade in paintings and drawings, or the effect produced by this use.
Page 1027, 19 lines from bottom: Here is the definition of Found Drama, which James O. Incandenza invented. This definition might explain why the films “Found Drama I” through “Found Drama XI” were “concept, conceptual, unreleased.”
Page 376 line 1: anti-confluential, a DFW neologism, defined more fully in end note 61; we can parse it out:
anti-, opposed to something, expressing or holding an opposing view, particularly regarding a political issue or moral principle.
confluential, merging into one, merging together.
So, anticonfluential probably means a drifting apart or spreading apart. Could very well describe this book.
Page 379, 11 lines from bottom: chyme, a thick fluid mass of partially digested food and gastric secretions passed from the stomach to the small intestine.
Page 380 line 16: Here is mentioned that an American (James O.) married a Canadian (Avril). A union of the United States and Canada, i.e., O.N.A.N.?
Page 1029 line 10: “…—unlike, thank God, John—…” What has the Moms just revealed here?
Page 1029 line 25, note 148: I don’t think a harquebus is a hat.
Page 380, 1 line from bottom: tendentious, written or spoken with personal bias in order to promote a cause or support a viewpoint.
Page 381 line 6: falcate, curved and tapered to a point like a sickle.
Page 382 line 14: “a surreal union of both Rush L. – and Hillary R. C. – disillusioned fringes.” A contemporary reference here.
Page 1029, note 150: A brief explanation of annular fusion (very, very brief). This text explains that annular fusion involves consuming waste to produce fuel whose waste was also fuel…
Page 382: Explains the collapse of the U.S. political parties (all of them). After note 150, referenced at the very beginning of this text, the collapse of the U.S. political party system seems very much like annular fusion (fueling itself with its own waste.)
Page 384 line 16: imbricate, overlapping like roof tiles, describes plant or animal parts that overlap in a regular pattern.
Page 385, 7 lines from bottom: prandial, related to a meal, especially lunch or dinner.
Page 385, 16 lines from bottom: Who is J.J.J.C.? Seems to be the prime minister of Canada, but what do the initials stand for?
Page 385 line 22: jejune, boring, uninteresting and intellectually undemanding; childish, lacking maturity or sophistication; without proper nourishment, lacking or not providing proper nourishment.
Page 387, 2 lines from bottom: fulgurant, flashing with or like lightning.
Page 388 line 1: glabrous, smooth and lacking hairs or bristles.
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