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November 17th, YDAU - A First-Time Visitor to Ennet House

Page 786

depose
ask questions of someone while under oath

A.T.E.
Hal is wearing his jacket inside out (and, if so, Johnette has not noticed the reversal of the E).

homey
NOAD: n., (chiefly US) an acquaintance from one's town or neighbourhood, or a member of one's peer group or gang

Endnote 324 · John Wayne loses it

Endnote 324

U.S.O.U.S. "interviews" Molly Notkin

Page 787

homburg
a man's felt hat with grosgrain band, and upturned brim

post-Marxist
a school of thought that "bypasses orthodox Marxism," and encompasses the arts as well as politics

Sidney Peterson-shaped directorial chair
1905-2000, an American author, artist, and avant-garde filmmaker. I could not determine his shape adequately enough to permit me to envision such a chair

Page 788

co-op
a co-operative, i.e., an apartment building that is jointly owned by the tenants

V or VI
The filmography of Incandenza presented in an earlier (lengthy) endnote would seem to indicate that there were only five versions of the film, although the fifth version was apparently reviewed, which would mean that the "entertainment" so desperately sought is actually a sixth version.

instantiation
a representation of an idea, here visual

anamorphosized
changed from one form to another as a step in evolution; in optics, an anamorphic lens changes the shape of an image

lalating
neologism, perhaps similar to ululating, as suggested by Amy Batchelor in one of her interesting Thoughts in Random Patterns (8 August 2005)

Endnote 329

heuristic
NOAD: enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves

Page 788 (cont'd)

Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad

ghastlyly
even funnier coming from someone with a first name ending in -ly; simply ghastly functions as the adverb (rarely) as well as the adjective (could Molly be lalating?) (or hypohaplologic?)

Rube-Goldbergesque
needlessly convoluted, like one of the machines for which Jewish-American cartoonist Reuben Garret Lucius "Rube" Goldberg (1883-1970) was famous

Page 789

parturient
about to give birth

synecdoche
This complicated figure of speech is explained here.

glabrous
hairless

venery
the gratification of sexual desire

chicanery
deception by trickery or sophistry

keel
This word denotes "the principal structural member of a ship, running lengthwise along the center line from bow to stern, to which the frames are attached" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Here it is used in the sense of "on an even keel," i.e., sane.

real filmic McCoy
an interpolation of "filmic" (cinematic) into the familar expression "real McCoy," signifying authenticity

Page 790

interrment
a misspelling of interment, i.e., burial [properly spelt in some editions]

thanatoptic
neologism by Hal's criteria, regarding a vision of death

Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar

felo de self
malaprop, of felo de se quirkily combining the Latin phrase with its English translation

Page 791

olla podrida
a type of stew popular in Spain (and the pot in which it is prepared and served)

cerise
a vivid purplish red

wattles
wattles are ornamental skin on or near the base of the bill of certain birds, in this case the red wattles on the turkey's beak

ghastlyly
see note for Page 788 supra

anamorphic
see here for a discussion of the cinematography technique

anti-Picaresque narrative statis
This is one―or a small part of one―of Molly's pseudoscholarly (not to say "Rube-Goldbergesque") tropes. A picaresque work is the satirical, episodic story of a roguish hero (or antihero) of low birth and behavior that borders on the criminal (see here for examples of picaresque novels, including Don Quixote, Tom Jones, and Huckleberry Finn). The phrase here may imply a storytelling technique at odds with the picaresque literary style (i.e., not a first-person narrative or not told from the protagonist's point of view; not without plot; not static in terms of the [anti-]hero's character development; not satirical; etc.). Also, of course, see Endnote 331.

malcathected
neologism by Hal's criteria, attached to emotionally in a negative way

all of Vienna
implying all psychoanalysts, or at least all adherents of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung

Page 792

Liebestod
"Love-death," the aria sung by Isolde over the dead body of Tristan in the last moments of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, "Mild und leise…"

antinomically
in a manner suggesting opposition of laws

perspicuous
clearly expressed

Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) was a French philosopher.

Incest and the Life of Death in Capitalist Entertainment
There is no such title.

malefic
having a bad influence

reagent
a substance used to produce other substances

neurasthenic
a person suffering from a condition that is characterized especially by physical and mental exhaustion believed to result from psychological factors. (similar to chronic fatigue syndrome)

menses
menstruation

Pap smears
screenings for female reproductive cancers, named for Georgios N. Papanikolaou (1883-1962), a Greek oncologist

Putti
a play on Pookie (the baby-talk version), but also Italian (plural of putto) for representations of male infants or cherubs often seen in Renaissance (and other) paintings

Page 793

actaeonizing
a neologism in reference to Actaeon, a young hunter in Greek Mythology who looked upon Artemis bathing, who turned him into a stag; he was then killed by his own hunting dogs

tines
prongs of a fork

genuflectory
servilely respectful (to the extent of kneeling before)

beau
boyfriend

Page 794

bell-jar
a type of laboratory glassware -- also the title of a novel by Sylvia Plath

itinerant
traveling from place to place

pointers
A pointer is a breed of hunting dog

Page 795

Lucille Duquette
Molly is lying about Joelle's real name, but this name means something like "Light of the Collection."

bradykinetic
slow moving

Endnote 332 · Pemulis just slays deLint

Endnote 332

Hal's First Anonymous Meeting

Page 795

Endnote 333

exurbs
towns too far away from cities to be called "suburbs" but not far enough to be rural

Nantucket
an island of Massachusetts about 30 miles south of Cape Cod

Page 795 (cont'd)

Route 27
a Massachusetts highway running from Route 106 in Kingston to Route 4 in Chelsmfold

Page 796

condonation
overlooking of an offense

Abandoned All Hope
In Dante's Inferno, the sign above Hell reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

C. C. Reservoir
presumably "Cleveland Circle Reservoir," though the actual reservoir next to Cleveland Circle is known as the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

shunpike
a side road to avoid taking a turnpike, in this case, the Mass Turnpike (I-90).

Rte. 9
a Massachusetts highway running from US-20 in Pittsfield (western Massachusetts) to Route 28 in Boston

I-90
an interstate running from Seattle to Boston, with the Massachusetts section designated the Mass Turnpike

NPR
National Public Radio

George Will
George Frederick Will (born 1941) is a conservative American columnist. Wallace implies that he has had his voicebox removed and now speaks with a prosthetic voicebox.

Cleveland Circle
a neighborhood of Boston

Page 797

Æolic
an ancient Greek dialect spoken between 800 and 300 BC

ὃνμγα
It's Greek to me, but it seems that mu and gamma may be transposed in what should probably transliterate to onyma.

Thynne
This is probably a reference to Francis Thynne (1544-1608), an English administrator at the College of Arms in London.

taproot
something that provides a central source for growth

Cynewulf
probably a reference to the Anglo-Saxon poet by that name

penumbra
a shadowy, gray area

gneiss
a form of metamorphic rock

Quabbin
the name of a reservoir in Massachusetts

Burma-Shave signs

Burma-Shave signs
small sequential road signs used to advertise an American brand of brushless shaving cream from 1925 to 1963; see examples here

Lombardy
a region of northern Italy with its capital at Milan

Masonry building with quoins at corner

quoins
cornerstones (see right)

Page 798

deignition
shutting down of an engine

Draconyl
perhaps a nonce adjective indicating that the carpet is made of Dacron, the synthetic polyester fiber, but could be an invented extension of the trademark, because it appears later on the page as a noun

lintel
a horizontal piece of architecture supporting the weight above a window or door

puce
dark or brownish purple

'Seated Harlequin'
You can see this painting here.

Muzak
generic elevator-type music

Page 799

Rubikular
referring to Rubik's cube

eagle-, leaf-, and broom-emblemized
presumably the vestigal U.S.A. bald eagle and Canadian maple leaf, so the broom could be the symbol of O.N.A.N.

scrip
paper money

Natick
a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston (and part of the Greater Boston area)

São Paulo
Brazilian metropolis

altruistic
tending to do good things for their own sakes

"...the color of Thousand Island dressing..."
the pastel salmon color resulting from mixing mayonnaise and tomato ketchup (among other ingredients, including pickle relish)

Page 800

Imperial beard

imperial
Imagine a beard like the one shown at right, only blond and with more wax.

sibilance
hissing sound

bereft
deprived, especially by a death

Page 801

diglobular
consisting of two lumps of fat - here it refers to, however, his globe-like head seated atop his globe-like body, as mentioned on the previous page

Page 802

treacly
sentimental; overly sweet; cloying

NASA emblem

space-and-spacecraft emblem
see NASA logo at right

mauve
a moderate grey-violet to red-purple color

apneated
as if punctuated by temporary cessations of breathing

Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born 1937) is an American music composer and pianist. His music is repetitive and minimalist.

quaaludes
capsules or caplets of Methaqualone, a sedative often used recreationally

Page 803

inguinal
situated in the groin

lachrymucus
mucus flowing as a result of crying; rheum

obliquest
most oblique (sloping); "the obliquest portion of his profile" could be his nose

Dedham
a town in Massachusetts about 12 miles southwest of Boston

Wharton
the business school at the Ivy-League University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, generally believed to be the most prestigious undergraduate business school in the world and also highly regarded at post-graduate levels

Endnote 336

sudoriferous
sweaty

agora-compulsive
addicted to the market (shopping)? or doesn't want to leave the home, i.e., compulsively agoraphobic

Page 804

Humboldt County
probably the county in far-north California.

hydroponic
grown in water

"mercantile counterpart at the Rolling Hills Academy"
a student at Rolling Hills who fulfills at his school much the same role that Pemulis fulfills at E.T.A.

Delta-9
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive substance found in marijuana

M.B.R.O.
Metro-Boston Recovery Options

Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland

pathos
a quality that evokes pity

pizzicato
the musical effect of the plucking of strings on a classical instrument

civety
civet-like; a civet is a small carnivorous feline mammal that emits a strange smell

fenestration
the arrangement of windows and doors on the elevations of a building

Page 805

dandled
moved up and down in a playful manner (e.g., dandled a baby on one's knee)

Fred MacMurray
Fredrick Martin MacMurray (1908-1991) was an American film and television actor, referenced here for his starring role as the father in the hit television show My Three Sons.

in loco parentis
Latin: in the place of parents

swart
swarthy

Page 806

widow's peak
a hairline that comes to a point in the center of the forehead

Ruminative
In the manner of thinking deeply about something.

narcosis
A stupor generally caused by drugs.

Addis Ababa
the capital of Ethiopia

American Falls
the American part of Niagara Falls

Page 807

Keens
wails

vivisecting
performing an operation on a living animal for research purposes

timpani
large drums (kettledrums) used in orchestras

Cornet
a brass instrument that looks much like a trumpet

Appian Way
an ancient Roman road

cannoli
an Italian pastry stuffed with sweetened ricotta cheese

Ascension Island
a volcanic island off the coast of Africa

South Atlantic
South Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is bounded by the east coasts of the Americas and the west coasts of Eurasia and Africa. The area of the Ocean below the equator is referred to as the South Atlantic Ocean.

Page 808

'I Don't Know (How to Love Him)'
a song from the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, sung by the character of Mary Magdalene (album: 1970; stage premiere, on Broadway: 1971)

"tornadic gale"
tornado-strength wind

Azores
a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Portugal

cytological
Like microscopic cells; on the other hand, maybe this is a deliberate or accidental misspelling of cetological (related to whales). Hal seems to be imagining himself spitting water like a whale spouting water from its blowhole.

plume
here, a stream of water resembling a feather