Chapter 6

Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.

Page numbers refer to editions with 369 pages, where the story begins on page 1. Not sure if there are other editions with variant pagination. Please let us know otherwise.

Page 72

Wouldn't it Be Nice
Beach Boys, 1966, off the album Pet Sounds.

Page 75

Lew Erskine
main character in the TV show, "F.B.I.," which ran 1965-74. IMDB

Page 77

before he's slipped, as Jim Morrison might put it, "into unconsciousness"...
lyrics from "The Crystal Ship" by The Doors: "Before you slip into unconsciousness / I'd like to have another kiss." The song was on the Doors' first album, The Doors, released in January 1967. Have a listen on YouTube...

as Fats Domino always sez, "Never to be"...
"Blueberry Hill" was written in 1940 and was recorded by Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey and Gene Autry, and others. In 1956, Fats Domino (b. 1928) recorded it and it was a #2 hit on the Billboard Top 40. Excerpt:

The wind in the willow played

Love's sweet melody

But all of those vows we made

Were never to be

Hawaiian shirt
One was worn by Tyrone Slothrop in Gravity's Rainbow, part 2.

Page 78

Beach Boys
This must follow some Beach Boys melody. Anyone?

Page 80

The Vincent Thomas Bridge by night, as it appears today.

Kai Tak
Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998.

San Pedro, Terminal Island, Vincent Thomas Bridge
All back in L.A.

Page 81

Model in a red cheongsam. Source

Cheongsam
a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women.

Fan-tan... dollar-a-stone Go
Fan-Tan is a form of gambling long played in China that has similarities to roulette. Wikipedia. 361 stones are used in a game of Go, making this a pricey game for the 60s...

Page 82

LZ
Vietnam soldier slang for "landing zone."

Page 83

Dan ranking
the dan ranking system is a Japanese mark of level is used in martial arts (and also traditional fine arts, including mastery of the board game, go).