We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Allusions and Cultural References

When authors give shout outs to other great works, people, and events, it's usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (referenced throughout)
  • William Shakespeare, Hamlet (referenced throughout)
  • Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (5.12)
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald (7.60)
  • Elie Wiesel (7.80)
  • Susan Sontag (7.87)
  • Ovid, The Metamorphosis (10.1)

Historical References

  • The bombing of Dresden (referenced throughout)
  • September 11, 2001 (referenced throughout)
  • Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (1.6)
  • The unsolved Chandra Levy murder case (1.26)
  • Alexander Graham Bell (1.33, 5.57)
  • The Mona Lisa (5.1)
  • Thomas Edison (5.57)
  • Benjamin Franklin (5.57)
  • Henry Ford (5.57)
  • Eli Whitney (5.57)
  • George Washington Carver (5.57)
  • Nikola Tesla (5.57)
  • The Wright Brothers (5.57)
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer (5.57)
  • Kofi Annan (5.60)
  • Former French President Jacques Chirac (5.60)
  • E.O. Wilson (5.60)
  • Bill Gates (5.60)
  • Vladimir Putin (5.60)
  • Pablo Picasso (7.49)
  • Winston Churchill (7.60, 7.64)
  • Walter Cronkite (7.64)
  • The Bay of Pigs (7.64)
  • Kent State (7.64)
  • Ayatollah Khomeini (7.64)
  • Leon Trotsky (7.64)
  • The Berlin Wall (7.64)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright (7.64)
  • The Spanish Civil War (7.64)
  • Henry Kissinger (7.70)
  • Che Guevara (7.72)
  • Mahatma Gandhi (7.75)
  • Ariel Sharon (7.84)
  • Yasir Arafat (7.86)
  • Pope John Paul II (7.91)
  • Mohamed Atta (7.95)
  • Claude Debussy, Sunken Cathedral (7.105)
  • Joseph Stalin (7.112)
  • The Great Depression (13.93)
  • Antonin Scalia (15.4)

Pop Culture References

  • The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" (1.1)
  • The Beatles "I Am the Walrus" (1.36, 15.88, 17.155)
  • Ringo Starr (3.17)
  • Siegfried and Roy (5.60)
  • Weird Al Yankovic (5.60)
  • Gone with the Wind (7.64)
  • Grace Kelly (7.64)
  • Hula hoops (7.64)
  • The Beatles, "Something in the Way She Moves" (7.65)
  • Jeff Bezos (7.73)
  • Arthur Ashe (7.78)
  • Tom Cruise (7.79)
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (7.81)
  • Martha Stewart (7.82)
  • Mick Jagger (7.85)
  • Wolfgang Puck (7.88)
  • Marilyn Monroe (7.94)
  • The Beatles, "Eleanor Rigby" (7.108)
  • Emma Watson (9.33)
  • Harry Potter (9.33)
  • The Beatles, "Hey Jude" (9.107)
  • An Affair to Remember (13.97)
  • Sleepless in Seattle (13.97)
  • Donald Trump (17.12)
  • Barbie (17.13)