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
- Carl Sagan (Prologue)
- Rastafarianism (24)
- Lord of the Flies (44)
- The Bible
- Jesus turns water into wine (49, 266)
- Grandfather paradox (72)
- Novikov self-consistency principle (73)
- Theory of multiverses (79)
- Emily Dickinson, "Hope is the thing with feathers" (114, 233)
- Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" (153)
- Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" (178)
- Warsan Shire, "For Women Who Are Difficult to Love" (196)
- The Three Sisters of Fate, from Greek mythology (200)
- Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (206-207, 215, 287)
- Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (244)
Historical References
- Industrial Revolution (Prologue)
- Haile Selassie (24)
- 15th-century Africa (129)
- Madam C.J. Walker (129)
- George E. Johnson (129)
Pop Culture References
- IKEA (4)
- Nirvana (7, 36, 51, 341)
- Bob Marley (3, 21, 24, 54)
- Cap'n Crunch cereal (28)
- Moleskine notebooks (28)
- Bob Dylan (33)
- Chris Cornell
- Temple of the Dog (38, 51)
- Soundgarden (168)
- Massive Attack, "Blue Lines" (51)
- N.W.A, "Straight Outta Compton" (51)
- Madonna, "Like A Virgin" (51)
- Dunkin' Donuts (69)
- Pearl Jam, "Yellow Ledbetter" (77)
- New York Times, "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love" (recurring)
- Disney
- Old cartoons (110)
- Space Mountain (278)
- Facebook (160, 244)
- ABBA, "Take a Chance on Me" (165)
- American Museum of Natural History (184, 202)
- Coca-Cola (234)
- Google Maps (253)
- Rube-Goldberg machines (302)
- Skype (304)
- Michael Jackson, "The Girl Is Mine" (311)