Tropic of Cancer (novel) - References or Allusions in Other Works

References or Allusions in Other Works

Literature

• In his 1960 short story "Entropy", Thomas Pynchon begins with a quote from this novel.
• In the 1965 novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut, Lila reads the book "as though... were Heidi."
• In the 1969 novel The Seven Minutes by Irving Wallace, the book and the trial were mentioned.
• In the 1994 play Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver, the novel is mentioned by the character Emma: "She reads poems by Emily Bronté and I read chapters from the The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller."
• In Carl Hiaasen's 1995 Stormy Weather a character quotes a line from the novel.
• In the 1998 nonfiction book Rocket Boys, Quentin shows Sonny a copy of Tropic of Cancer and asks him "You want to know about girls?"

Music

• Satirical songwriter and mathematics instructor Tom Lehrer stated that he intended to write a million-selling math book which he would call Tropic of Calculus.
• The 1980s British band The Weather Prophets was named after a line in the opening paragraph of the novel: "Boris has just given me a summary of his views. He is a weather prophet."
• Frontman Henry Rollins of the hardcore punk band Black Flag was heavily affected by the book as well and frequently made references to it in his songs, often taking lyrics directly from Tropic of Cancer. He would also read passages of it to his audiences mid-show.
• In the song "Delirium of Disorder" by punk band Bad Religion, the opening verse quotes the novel, "Life is a sieve through which my anarchy strains resolving itself into words. Chaos is the score on which reality is written...".
• In the song "Ashes of American Flags" by Wilco, one phrase from the lyrics is taken from the novel: "A hole without a key."

Film and television

• The novel is read and discussed in After Hours, a 1985 film by Martin Scorsese.
• In the 1991 version of Cape Fear, also directed by Scorsese, the characters of Max Cady and Danielle Bowden discuss the book briefly.
• In the 1991 Seinfeld episode "The Library", Jerry is accused of never returning it to the public library after borrowing it many years before, during high school, in 1971.
• In the 1991 movie Henry & June the first draft of the book is referenced and discussed by Henry and friends.
• In the 2000 romantic comedy film 100 Girls, the characters Dora and Matthew read an excerpt from Tropic of Cancer together: "Your Sylvester! ... After me you can take on stallions, bulls, rams, drakes, St. Bernards."
• At the beginning of the 2000 movie Final Destination, Clear (Ali Larter) is reading Tropic of Cancer upon arrival at the airport.
• In the 2010 telenovela ¿Dónde Está Elisa? a copy of the book is found in Elisa's locker at school.