BEg2 chapter 2 Reddit de murus commentary

[Michael Bailey]

>From username frenesigates

https://www.reddit.com/r/ThomasPynchon/comments/hpl83e/name_some_anagrams_that_you_think_you_have_found/


Name some anagrams that you think you have found in Pynchon’s books

One that I found in Bleeding Edge is the ship on which Maxine meets Reg:
AMBOPEDIA Frolix ‘98

Now, while “ambo” and “pedia” have their own meanings that do pertain to
the purpose of the ship- I think that the entire word “AMBOPEDIA” could be
an anagram of “BAM (!) OEDIPA”

Basically, I think that the exclamation “Bam” is being used to show that as
soon as Maxine steps on the ship, she is becoming more like The Crying of
Lot 49’s Oedipa Maas.

Isn’t the collection of so-called “Borderline Personality Disorder” (... I
don’t think the cruisers really show symptoms of BPD) that Maxine finds
herself in the midst of similar to Oedipa finding herself among that party
of deaf mutes?

Many other parallels can be drawn between Maxine and Oedipa.

“Bam” could also be alluding to Emeril Lagasse: A chef that was highly
popular around the time of 9/11. He was known for exclaiming “Bam! Kick it
up a notch” every time he added spice to a recipe. Emeril briefly starred
in a sitcom that was destined for failure due to its series premier
debuting less than a fortnight after the events of 11 September.

A clue that the word is alluding to a chef’s spice is that on the previous
page, Maxine gives Reg a ‘Proverb for Paranoids’ that seems to be based on
a phrase that includes the word spice:

“Paranoia is the garlic in life’s kitchen, right, you can never have too
much.”

P.S. “Frolix” is a clear reference to a Philip K Dick book.



Hey, that last bit seems like actually true & possibly helpful -


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/756108.Our_Friends_from_Frolix_8

Nick Appleton is a menial laborer whose life is a series of endless
frustrations. Willis Gram is the despotic oligarch of a planet ruled by
big-brained elites. When they both fall in love with Charlotte Boyer, a
feisty black marketer of revolutionary propaganda, Nick seems destined for
doom. But everything takes a decidedly unpredictable turn when the
revolution’s leader, Thors Provoni, returns from ten years of intergalactic
hiding with a ninety-ton protoplasmic slime that is bent on creating a new
world order.