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=NNYC's Statue of Liberty= | =NNYC's Statue of Liberty= |
Revision as of 20:28, 31 October 2018
- Editors: Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. Preview your changes before saving them. Thanks!
Contents
- 1 November 8th, YDAU - Interdependence Day - Boston AA
- 1.1 Page 343
- 1.2 Page 344
- 1.3 Endnote 133
- 1.4 Page 344 (cont'd)
- 1.5 Page 345
- 1.6 Endnote 134
- 1.7 Page 345 (cont'd)
- 1.8 Page 346
- 1.9 Page 347
- 1.10 Page 348
- 1.11 Page 349
- 1.12 Page 350
- 1.13 Page 351
- 1.14 Page 352
- 1.15 Page 353
- 1.16 Page 354
- 1.17 Page 355
- 1.18 Page 356
- 1.19 Page 357
- 1.20 Endnote 139
- 1.21 Page 357 (cont'd)
- 1.22 Page 358
- 1.23 Page 359
- 1.24 Page 360
- 1.25 Page 361
- 1.26 Page 362
- 1.27 Page 363
- 1.28 Page 364
- 1.29 Page 365
- 1.30 Page 366
- 1.31 Page 367
- 2 NNYC's Statue of Liberty
- 3 Boston AA, cont.
- 4 April 30th/May 1st, YDAU - More Marathe & Steeply
- 5 Himself and Lyle
- 6 More Boston AA
- 7 Himself and Lyle, cont.
November 8th, YDAU - Interdependence Day - Boston AA
(The longest chapter in the book)
Page 343
GAUDEAMUS IGITUR
"Let us rejoice"
singular
unique
polysterene
a plastic made of polymerized styrene, if gas is entrained, it is called styrofoam
ziggurats
an ancient type of Mesopotamian temple tower
fiberboard
board made of small fibers of wood, plastic, or some combination of these and other materials
Concord
Concord is about 20 miles northwest of Boston and is the site one of the first battles of the American Revolution.
Page 344
rotary
a traffic circle or, in the U.K., a roundabout
plywood
material made of thin layers of wood glued together
'12th-Step Work'
The twelfth and final step of AA is this: "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
epigrammatic
of or pertaining to the use of short and pithy statements
pay it forward
(jeu de mots or wordplay on 'pay it back'), thus the title of this movie
nip
drink of alcohol
Dick Cavett and Truman Capote
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett (born 1936) is an Emmy-award-winning television talk-show host. Truman Capote (1924-1984) was an American writer and novelist, best known for writing In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Both men were remarkably short.
Endnote 133
variegated
of diverse hue
esoteric
understood or recognized by few people
Page 344 (cont'd)
piping
This is a tubular band of ornamental material; Nodie is probably a brand name.
imbricate
(of scales, sepals, plates, etc.) having adjacent edges overlapping.
tailor's notch
Notch in a tooth one gets from repeatedly biting thread to cut it (or from holding a sewing needle between one's teeth)
incisors
front top and bottom teeth, in humans eight in all (right and left, upper and lower, central and lateral)
Page 345
insipid
without interesting qualities
AA Preamble
You can read it here.
empathy
one's ability to feel the emotions of another person
what he is
i.e., an alcoholic
Endnote 134
nonpunitive
not intended as a punishment
nitro
nitroglycerin, used for cardiac attacks
Page 345 (cont'd)
145 kph
a hair over 90 miles per hour
litany
a prolonged or tedious account
Page 346
self-regulations
an allusion to a similar deliberately ludicrous list in Chapter 3 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, read aloud at the start of many AA meetings
waxing
growing in size, as for the first half of a lunar cycle
peritonitis
inflammation of the serous membrane lining the abdomenal cavity
cirrhotic
pertaining to hardening of liver tissue
nephritis
inflammation of the kidneys
Page 347
compadre
a close friend or companion, from the Spanish for "godfather"
ravening
voracious
maw
mouth
Black Mass
a Satanic ritual based on the Roman Catholic mass
Page 348
"...something whimpery instead of banging."
a reference to the last line of T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men
garish
loud and flashy
Balaclavan
a reference to Balaklava, Ukraine, and the suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade
prognathous
having one's lower jaw project beyond the upper part of one's face
thermal
a warm, rising air current
arbitrage
simultaneous purchase and sale of the same assets in different markets
compound
i.e., a compound fracture, where the bone protrudes through the skin
Svce
Service
Unitarian
Though the term refers to Unitarianism, here it suggests a kind of hippyesque, wishy-washyness.
Page 349
Hindenburg
Named for Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847-1934), the German field marshal, hero of World War I, and last President of the Weimar Republic, the Hindenburg was a hydrogen-filled zeppelin that exploded over Lakehurst, N.J., on May 6, 1937.
nonuremic
so as not to appear in one's urine
foamer
beer
Page 350
beatific
blissful or angelic
Zippo
a brand of lighter made in Bradford PA
saccharin
A play on words. "Saccharin" is the artificial sweetener in Sweet & Low (coffee is being discussed); "saccharine" means "overly sweet."
flummoxed
confused or perplexed
burnished
rubbed smooth
squalid
foul and repulsive
Page 351
terse
using few words
imperative
a tense of verb implicating a command or directive
zealotry
fanaticism
green-card Irishman
an Irishman who is a permanent resident non-citizen of the U.S.
meal
ground grain
metal-pedalled
i.e., "with the pedal to the metal," i.e., at top speed
chemical psychosis
Psychosis (called "speed psychosisis") a not uncommon side effect of amphetamine abuse.
wax lyrical
to speak poetically
"'d been a confarmed..."
I'd been a confirmed bowl-splatterer for years beyond counting. I'd been barred from the facilities at all the truck stops betwixt here and New York for years. The wallpaper in the loo at home hung in these curled sheets from the wall, I tell you. But now one day . . . I'll remember it always. It were a week to the day after I stood up for my ninety-day chip. I were three months sober. I were there on the throne at home, you know. Not to put too fine a point on it, I produced as usual and . . . and I were so amazed as to not believing my ears. It was a sound so unfamiliar at the first I thought I'd dropped my wallet in the loo, do you know? I thought I'd dropped me wallet in the loo as god is my witness. So down I bend betwixt my knees and had a look in the dim of the loo and couldn't believe my eyes. So good people I do then I drop to my knees by the loo and had a real look. A lover's look, do you know? And friends it were a lovely past my poor powers to say. It were a turd in the loo. A real turd. It were firm and tapered and ever so gently arched. It looked . . . constructed instead of sprayed. It look as I felt in my heart God himself made a turd to look. My friends, this turd of mine practically had a pulse. I stayed down on my knees and thanked my Higher Power, which I choose to call my Higher Power God, and I been thanking my Higher Power on my knees ever since, morning and nighttime and in the loo as well, ever since.
ninety-day chip
In AA, medals, or chips, are awarded to commemorate certain lengths of sobriety
Page 352
Enuresis
involuntary loss of bladder control, if while awake, pants-wetting; if while sleeping, bed-wetting
Priapism
a penile erection that won't go away
Projectile-incontinence
inability to hold one's bowels to the extent that feces shoot out of the anus
Autocastration
castration of one's self
fringe-Birchism
Birchism is adherence to the principles of the John Birch Society, an ultra-right-wing political organization
National-Socialist-Bundtism
The National Socialists were the Nazis, and bund is German for bunch, but it's unclear why Wallace uses Bundtism with the t rather than simply Bundism. This could refer to something like the German-American Bund of Fritz Julius Kuhn.
Coprophilia and -phagia
sexual excitement brought on by feces and eating of feces, respectively
candelabrum
a holder for more than one candle
Page 353
vitriolic
something highly caustic or severe, as criticism; the phrase prodigy of vitriolic spine must refer to someone with an impressive and courageous capacity (talent?) for scathing criticism
orevwar
i.e., au revoir, the French for "goodbye"
fremitic
characterized by tremor vibrations in any part of the body
Page 354
verdant
green with vegetation
varicose
having veins that are visible through the skin
shamanistic fiat
A shaman is a priest or religious official, usually of an indigenous religion. A fiat is an order, based on the Latin for the imperative form of the verb "to be."
30 kph
18.6 miles per hour
talismanically
in a way suggesting something having to do with a magic charm or amulet
Lord's Prayer
from Matthew 20:9-13
ballast
meaning an electric ballast, which is used to regulate and stabilize the current in fluorescent lights
Page 355
gnarled
knotty and misshappen
Sixers
the short name for the Philadelphia 76ers
MCI-Walpole
This is the Massachusetts Correction Institute at Walpole, about 25 miles southwest of Boston.
raisin jack
an alcoholic drink fermented from raisins, commonly made in prisons
spectral
looking like a ghost
Page 356
LeSabre
the Buick LeSabre
jack-legged
a slang term meaning "always screwing up"
dash
short for "dashboard"
abject
sunken to a low position, as in "abject poverty"
regs
regulations
sub-rosa
The Latin phrase sub rosa means "under the rose" and is used in English to denote secrecy or confidentiality
autonomy
control or rule over one's self
Page 357
fibrosis
scarring
Endnote 139
entomologic
of or pertaining to the study of insects.
Page 357 (cont'd)
Mr. Rogers
The Reverend Frederick McFeely "Fred" Rogers (1928-2003) was an American minister and children's television show host.
rhapsodize
speak in an extravagantly elegant manner
fisticuffery
fist-fighting
invectives
abusive expressions of opinion
Sergeant at Arms
an officer appointed to keep order
Page 358
apothegm
a short, pithy statement
head
bathroom
spuds
potatoes
nocturnal
happening at night
crook
a shepherd's staff
French-curled
You can see French-curled jewelry here.
demurely
in an affectedly modest way
Page 359
circumferences
distances around the edge of a circle
cuticles
dead skin at the bottom of the fingernails
astringent
a chemical that tends to dry something else out; here it probably means "severe, austere, stern" (OED)
onionlight
You can see onionlights here.
isopropyl
2-propanol, a type of alcohol, comprising rubbing alcohol ('surgical spirit' in the U.K.)
reek
to smell very badly
A.D.A.
Assistant District Attorney
Page 360
fumigated
permeated with gas to kill insects or other vermin
idiosyncrasy
a peculiarity of personality
rattan
material taken from the rattan plant, a climbing palm with very long stems
Big Book
This is the AA "bible," so to speak, and can be found online here.
As Bill Sees It
a book by Bill W., one of AA's founders, first published in 1967
Came To Believe
another AA publication, this one published in 1973
Page 361
joggling
shaking slightly
Demerol
a brand name of meperidine (USA) or pethidine (UK), a synthetic narcotic 'painkiller'
photic
having to do with light
Page 362
copperheads
one of five species of poisonous snake
tongues
The reference is to glossolalia.
larynx
voice box
requisite
essential or necessary
venulated
The word means "able to see the veins"; this condition of the nose is very common among advanced alcoholics.
'Volare'
This is a song whose title is from the Italian for "to fly." The song was written by Domenico Modugno and Franco Migliacci. Modugno went on to be a member of Italy's parliament
Page 363
pupil and iris
The pupil is the black circle at the center of the eye, while the iris is the colored part (blue, green, brown, gray, hazel).
cognito
which is to say, in Lenz's case, unsuccessfully incognito
Ferragamos
an Italian brand of shoes
periphery
an external boundary
selvage
the edge of woven fabric finished so as to prevent raveling, often in a narrow tape effect, different from the body of the fabric.
11-Step
recalling the 12th step on page 344, UHID must lack this step, or perhaps one of the others
Page 364
Rémy
Rémy-Martin, a brand of cognac
Tiparillo
a brand name of cigar with built in holder, more or less
Year of Dairy Products From the American Heartland
defib paddles
the paddles used in defibrillation, the application of electric shocks to the heart to re-start it
divot
Normally a golf term, a divot is the chunk of turf whose ejection leaves a hole in the fairway when one strikes a golf ball.
rankness
the quality of being offensive
proprietary
Usually referring to an owner, here it refers to feeling as if one has a sense of ownership.
Page 365
rectum
the very end of the large intestine
hubristic
having exaggerated pride or self-confidence
7-iron
a type of golf club
tenth rough
off the fairway on the tenth hole of a golf course
Page 366
flats
women's shoes without heels
subjunctive
relating to or denoting a mood of verbs expressing what is imagined or wished or possible. Compare with indicative.
counterfactual
at variance with what really happened
indicative
According to Merriam-Webster, "indicative" means "of, relating to, or constituting a verb form or set of verb forms that represents the denoted act or state as an objective fact."
transposition
exchanging the positions of two things
Radarange
The name of the original microwave oven by Amana
pass
NOAD: 13. a state or situation of a specified, usually bad or difficult, nature • this is a sad pass for a fixture that used to crackle with excitement.
allude
NOAD: suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at
Page 367
velour
a piled and nappy material resembling velvet
caparison
an ornamental covering for a horse, or just rich clothing
gavel
a small mallet or hammer with which an auctioneer, a judge, or the chair of a meeting hits a surface to call for attention or order.
NNYC's Statue of Liberty
Page 367
huge photo album
The book held by the statue reads, "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI [1776]."
product
as opposed to the torch it currently holds
pitons
spikes used by mountain climbers for support
Boston AA, cont.
Page 367
deprecate
to express disapproval
Page 368
conundrum
something puzzling
cunctations
delays
chagrin
embarrassment at having failed
aphasiac
inability to speak
Filene's
former department store in the Boston area, now owned by Macy's
Page 369
unironic
i.e., totally expected and not at all a surprise
disingenuous
lacking in sincerity, pretending to be naïve
schlepping
carrying something awkwardly or slowly
deprogramming
from the deprogrammer's point of view, reversing the brainwashing that induced someone to adhere to a religious cult
Page 370
Naked I Club
a real strip club mentioned here
Route 1
U.S. 1 runs from Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, down to Key West, Florida, largely hugging the Atlantic coast
Saugus MA
a suburb of Boston about ten miles north of the city
etiology
the cause or source of a medical problem
prolix
extended to great, unnecessary, or tedious length; long and wordy.
Mud-Bug
a Southern term for a crawfish
invertebrate
an animal without a spine
chordate phylum
the phylum of the animal kingdom containing all animals with spines
Page 371
Campfire Girls
former name of youth organization when it was just for girls
Lancôme
one of France's largest cosmetics manufacturers
lurid
gruesome or shocking
ubiquitousness
the quality of always being present everywhere
Aetna
a real insurance company
Doric column
columns of buildings built according to the Doric order
pliability
the ability to be easily bent
Page 372
Ramparts and Commonweal
Ramparts was a magazine founded for a Catholic leadership but eventually found its niche with the New Left. Commonweal was and still is a publication by and for lay Catholics.
Sally Jessy Raphael M.S.W.
Sally Jessy Raphael (born Sally Lowenthal, 1938) is an American talk-show host. She does not hold an M.S.W., i.e., a Master's of Social Work
complicity
the status of being an accomplice in a wrongdoing
Wounded, Hurting, Inadequately Nurtured but Ever-Recovering Survivors
Look at the initials of the capitalized words.
auburn
reddish-brown
perimeter
the oustide edge of something
Page 373
vanity
a dressing table
limbic system
a complex system within the brain; the most primitive portion of the mammalian brain, associated with emotions
gauntlet
an attack from all sides
rasa the tabula
This is a playful inversion of tabula rasa, Latin for "blank state" and used in the philosophy of John Locke (1632-1704). The sense here is to clean the slate.
bandanna
a large printed handkerchief, typically red or blue with a white design
circumoral
surrounding the mouth
vacuole and optica
These are parts of a cell, the optica likely being some kind of "seeing" organ.
protozoan
a single-celled organism
some Catholic statue
The statue described strongly appears to be Bernini's The Ecstasy of St Theresa. This statue is also referred to by name at endnote 24, page 988 in the synopsis of James Incandenza's film Pre-Nuptial Agreement of Heaven and Hell.
Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity
prurient
causing lust
cherub
Often this word is used to denote a baby angel, but the actual connotation of the original Hebrew is of a fearsome warrior angel. A cherub guards the Garden of Eden in Genesis so that Adam and Eve cannot go back in.
lolled
dropped
Page 374
IV
intravenous, i.e., directly into a vein
lucidity
mental clarity
implicit
unspoken but implied
Six Flags Over the Poconos
Six Flags is a chain of amusement parks. There is not currently one in the Pocono Mountains.
labrynth
This is the mythological spelling of "labyrinth," meaning generically a maze, but more specifically denoting the maze built by Daedalus of ancient Greek myth.
minotaurs
Daedalus built his famous maze to house the Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull and the product of sexual congress between Europa, queen of Crete, and Zeus in the form of a bull.
aides de camp
confidential assistants to a military officer
absconded
departed suddenly and in secret
proto-Fascist
Wallace really means "quasi-Fascist" rather than "proto-Fascist"; it's not as if the rules of AA are the harbinger of Fascism to come.
decamped
a synonym of "absconded"
Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
commode
toilet
Page 375
Endnote 143
Sic
This word means: "Thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).
April 30th/May 1st, YDAU - More Marathe & Steeply
Page 375
shelf
a projecting ridge on a mountain
spangle
a small bright spot
"...launching even one ship or vessel."
unlike Helen of Troy, whose face "launched a thousand ships" according to Homer
Himself and Lyle
Page 375
blotto
drunk
Endnote 144
Year of the Purdue Wonderchicken
Page 376
More Boston AA
Page 376
brogue
American slang term for an accent – usually Irish or Scottish – from the Irish word 'bróg', meaning 'shoe'.
Eightball
an eighth of an ounce of cocaine
translucent
capable of having light pass through; but not transparent
mucronate
having an abruptly projecting point, as a feather or leaf.
Page 377
swaddled
wrapped tightly in cloth strips
fuchsia
brilliant ("hot") pink, the color of the flower of the same name
dysplasia
abnormal growth of cells or tissue
remonstrances
acts of protest
beat-cop
a policeman who patrols the streets
abstruse
difficult to understand; recondite
tungsten
a metallic element described here, also known as wolfram
Page 378
Chanel
the fashion house known in long form as the House of Chanel
reticence
reluctance
D&C
dilation (of the cervix) and curetage (scraping) of the uterus
placenta
the tissue that nourishes a fetus and makes up the afterbirth
S.S.I.
Social Security Insurance
Page 379
Himself and Lyle, cont.
Page 379
libations
alcoholic drinks
injudicious
showing lack of judgment
chyme
This is "the semifluid mass into which food is converted by gastric secretion and which passes from the stomach into the small intestine" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary).
Endnote 146
L.M.P.
Latrodectus Mactans Productions