ATDTDA (10): Coziness, 269

[Paul Nightingale]

I think it was Frank Kermode who complained that he couldn't 'get' the pop
culture references in Vineland; this, of course, was a point against the
novel, rather than the reader. Always, it seems, some references/allusions
are more acceptable than others. I like the marmot-falling-from-the-skies
idea, not least because we have been prepared for it. Cf. the "lavatorial
assaults" passage in Ch1: "They entered rather the realm of folklore,
superstition, or perhaps, if one does not mind stretching the definition,
the religious." (5)

However, The Big Lebowski is another matter.