Chapter 15
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
Mikhail Bakunin was one of the most influential anarchists of all time. Karl Marx was a revolutionary socialist and founder of Marxism. Vladamir Lenin or Vladamir Ulyanov was a celebrated leader in the Soviet Union and a major political figure in the 1905 Revolution.
415 - the Whitney
In 1956, the Whitney Museum of American Art was located on 54th Street, behind the Museum of Modern Art.
415/461 - Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin
Stencil is quoting the original "writing on the wall." In the book of Daniel, a mysterious, disembodied hand appears in the royal palace of King Belshazzar of Babylon, and writes the words "Mene mene tekel parsin (or upharsin, in another version) on the palace walls. The court was unable to decipher the meaning of the crypic phrase, although mene, tekel and parsin were all aramaic terms for currency. Daniel intepreted the phrase to mean that (mene) Babylon had been measured & found wanting, (tekel) a price would be paid and (parsin) Babylon apportioned by its neighbors. The historical record documents the conquest of the Bablyonian empire by the Persians; the Book of Daniel has King Belshazzar slain that night.
418 - Dalì's Last Supper
The Sacrament of the Last Supper (1955) was painted by Salvador Dalì (1903-1989). A gift of Chester Dale to the National Gallery of Art, it was first exhibited Easter weekend, 1956.
The Sacrament of the Last Supper
423/469 Sahha
Maltese: bye.
| Chapter 1 In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir 9/1 |
Chapter 2 The Whole Sick Crew 44/39 |
Chapter 3 In which Stencil, a quick-change artist, does eight impersonations 61/59 |
Chapter 4 In which Esther gets a nose job 95/97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 5 In which Stencil nearly goes West with an alligator 111/115 |
Chapter 6 In which Profane returns to street level 134/141 |
Chapter 7 She hangs on the western wall 152/161 |
Chapter 8 In which Rachel gets her yo-yo back, Roony sings a song, and Stencil calls on Bloody Chiclitz 213/229 |
| Chapter 9 Mondaugen's story 229/247 |
Chapter 10 In which various sets of young people get together 280/305 |
Chapter 11 Confessions of Fausto Maijstral 304/333 |
Chapter 12 In which things are not so amusing 347/385 |
| Chapter 13 In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind 367/407 |
Chapter 14 V. in love 393/437 |
Chapter 15 Sahha 415/461 |
Chapter 16 Valletta 424/471 |
| Epilogue, 1919 456/507 |
