When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literature and Philosophy
- T.S. Eliot (Franny.1.4)
- Sappho, fr. 140a (Franny.1.4)
- Rainer Maria Rilke, The Duino Elegies (Franny.1.7)
- Gustave Flaubert (Franny.2.10, Z.6.60)
- Leo Tolstoy (Franny.2.14), War and Peace (Zooey.3.5)
- Fyodor Dostoevsky (Franny.2.14), The Idiot (Zooey.6.1)
- William Shakespeare (Franny.2.14, Z.3.8), "Yorick's skull," from Hamlet (Zooey.8.69)
- Ivan Turgenev (Franny.2.23)
- Stendhal (Franny.2.23)
- The Way of the Pilgrim (Franny.4.5, Z.5.47)
- The Bible (Franny.4.9, F.4.21)
- The Philokalia (Franny.4.9, F.4.21)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (Zooey.1.2)
- Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Zooey.1.2)
- Booker T. Washington (Zooey.3.3)
- The Upanishads (Zooey.3.4)
- The Diamond Sutra (Zooey.3.4)
- Meister Eckhart (Zooey.3.4)
- Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (Zooey.3.5)
- Homer (Zooey.3.8)
- William Blake (Zooey.3.8)
- Walt Whitman (Zooey.3.8)
- Max Müller (editor), Sacred Books of the East (Zooey.3.8)
- Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (Zooey.4.6)
- Franz Kafka (Zooey.4.20, Z.7.31-2)
- Eve and Cain (Biblical) (Zooey.4.42)
- The New Testament (Zooey.4.61, Z.6.114, Z.6.127)
- The Pilgrim Continues His Way (Zooey.5.47)
- Bram Stoker, Dracula (Zooey.6.1)
- Clair W. Hayes, The Boy Allies on the Somme (Zooey.6.1)
- Emily Dickinson (Zooey.6.124, Z.7.11), Bolts of Melody (Zooey.6.1)
- S. S. Van Dine, The Scarab Murder Case (Zooey.6.1)
- Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (Zooey.6.1)
- Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (Zooey.6.1)
- Colette (Zooey.6.41)
- Thomas Wolfe (Zooey.6.41)
- Chuang Tzu (Zooey.6.69)
- Epictetus (Zooey.6.70, Z.6.112, Z.6.124), Golden Sayings XXVIII (Zooey.7.18-9)
- Francis Kilvert (Zooey.6.89)
- Solomon (Biblical) (Zooey.6.118, Z.6.127)
- St. Francis of Assisi (Zooey.6.120, Z.6.127)
- Isaiah (Biblical) (Zooey.6.127)
- David (Biblical) (Zooey.6.127)
- Paul (Biblical) (Zooey.6.127)
- Moses (Biblical) (Zooey.6.127)
- Pontius Pilate (Biblical) (Zooey.6.127)
- Socrates (Zooey.6.127, Z.7.18)
- Crito (Zooey.6.127)
- Pascal (Zooey.7.11)
- Charles Baudelaire (Zooey.7.11)
- Thomas a Kempis (Zooey.7.11)
- Bhagavad-Gita (Zooey.7.13-5)
- Kobayashi Issa (Zooey.7.17)
- Ulysses (Zooey.7.18)
- Ring Lardner, "How to Write Short Stories" (Zooey.7.20-3)
- Jean Pierre de Caussade (Zooey.7.24)
- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (Zooey.7.25-8)
- The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
- St. Francis de Sales (Zooey.7.33)
- The Mu Mon Kwan (Zooey.7.34-9)
- Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son (Zooey.8.39)
- J. M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World (Zooey.8.67)
Historical and Political References
- Mary Baker Eddy (Zooey.2.3)
- Thomas E. Dewey (Zooey.3.5)
- Everett Dirksen (Zooey.3.5)
- George Washington (Zooey.3.8)
- The Black and Tans (Zooey.4.20)
- Andrew Jackson (Zooey.6.49)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (Zooey.6.70)
- Marcus Aurelius (Zooey.7.16)
Music, Art, and Pop Culture References
- Anna Magnani (Zooey.3.5)
- Dmitri Popkin (Zooey.3.5)
- Milton Berle (Zooey.3.5)
- Zsa Zsa Gabor (Zooey.3.5)
- Gayelord Hauser (Zooey.3.5)
- Georgie Jessel (Zooey.3.5)
- Charles Jundt, a.k.a. "Charles of the Ritz" (Zooey.3.5)
- Call Me Mister (Zooey.4.22)
- Peter Pan (Zooey.4.47)
- Variety Magazine (Zooey.5.69)
- The Hall Johnson Choir (Zooey.5.82)
- Harper's Bazaar (Zooey.6.6)
- Carole Lombard (Zooey.6.67)
- Vincent Van Gogh (Zooey.6.83)
- Winnie the Pooh (Zooey.7.6)