Chapter 14

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 235

Kismet means Fate or fortune, but note also the other meanings below connected both to the history of the Vegas strip detailed here and to a certain earlier novel by Mr. Pynchon with "Lot" in the title:
Turkish, from Persian qismat; from Arabic qisma, lot; from qasama, to divide. --Pschmid1 07:53, 8 August 2009 (PDT)

"page right out of history," as the Flintstones might say
The Flintstones is animated American television sitcom that ran from 1960 to 1966 on ABC, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The Flintstones theme begins:

Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones.

They're the modern stone age family.

From the town of Bedrock,

They're a page right out of history.

Have a listen on YouTube...

Page 238

lines of latitude
Impossible not to think of Mason & Dixon here.

Aimee Semple McPherson-type
Evangelist, very popular in the 20's and 30's, founder of the Foursquare Church. She's mentioned here because she was allegedly abducted, only to escape several days later and stumble out of the Arizona desert. But her stories had some holes and raised a lot of questions. Read more here.

Page 244

Casey Kasem's Saturday-morning Shaggy voice
That's right. Legendary radio host Casey Kasem was the voice of Shaggy on the original Scooby Doo cartoon, which premiered in 1969. How many Scooby Doo references does this make?

Page 247

tiptoein through no tulips
Another reference to Tiny Tim.

Page 248

et cetera et cetera, and so forth as the King of Siam always sez
A reference to the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King & I.