Gilligan's Wake
Encyclopedia
Gilligan's Wake is a 2003
parallel novel
loosely based on the 1960s CBS
sitcom
Gilligan's Island
from the viewpoints of the seven major characters, written by Esquire
film and television critic
Tom Carson.
The title is derived from the title of the TV show and Finnegans Wake
, the seminal work of Irish
novelist James Joyce
. The book was acclaimed critically, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon
. Its nature as a "secret history" featuring numerous fictional characters is also similar to the Wold Newton
Universe. The novel was published subsequently as a paperback
in 2004 (ISBN 0-312-31114-1).
of "Gilligan"; additionally, a character whose name is a variant of "Susan" and Maxwell House
coffee appears or is referred to in each story.
2003 in literature
The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
parallel novel
Parallel novel
This is a partial list of works of fiction that are written within, or derived from, the framework of another work of fiction by another author. This list does not include franchised book series, which are typically works licensed by the publisher of the original work to use its settings and...
loosely based on the 1960s CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
from the viewpoints of the seven major characters, written by Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
film and television critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
Tom Carson.
The title is derived from the title of the TV show and Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
, the seminal work of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
novelist James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. The book was acclaimed critically, drawing comparisons to the works of Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
. Its nature as a "secret history" featuring numerous fictional characters is also similar to the Wold Newton
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
Universe. The novel was published subsequently as a paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
in 2004 (ISBN 0-312-31114-1).
Plot summary
Each of the seven castaways narrate an autobiographical story—almost totally unrelated to the events of the show—in order of their mention in the show's title theme. Their stories intersect with a character named John "Jack" Gilbert Egan, a former Marine and CIA operative, whose own life is the meta-narrative which ties the novel together. Each chapter features an important person or object in the lives of the castaways whose name is an anagramAnagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of "Gilligan"; additionally, a character whose name is a variant of "Susan" and Maxwell House
Maxwell House
Maxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. Introduced in 1892, it is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind...
coffee appears or is referred to in each story.
Characters
- This Tiny Ship (Gilligan'sGilliganGilligan may refer to:*USS Gilligan , a US Navy destroyer escort*Gilligan , a fictional character in the TV series Gilligan's Island*Gilligan , people with the surname Gilligan...
story): This chapter is the shortest, and also somewhat unclear. It has a writing style similar to Pynchon as displayed in V.V.V. is the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, published in 1963. It describes the exploits of a discharged U.S. Navy sailor named Benny Profane, his reconnection in New York with a group of pseudo-bohemian artists and hangers-on known as the Whole Sick Crew, and the quest of an aging traveller named...
and Gravity's RainbowGravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow is a postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973.The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest...
, with a series of punPunThe pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s and popular culturePopular culturePopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
allusions. The main character believes himself to be Maynard G. KrebsMaynard G. KrebsMaynard G. Krebs was the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis....
, the beatnikBeatnikBeatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
character from the TV series The Many Loves of Dobie GillisThe Many Loves of Dobie GillisThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and some episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, that also inspired the 1953 film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis with Debbie...
(on their respective shows, both Krebs and Gilligan were portrayed by actor Bob DenverBob DenverRobert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.-Early life:Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in...
). The chapter opens with Maynard/Gilligan living a beatBeat generationThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
lifestyle in San Francisco with his girlfriend Suze. He is knocked unconscious by a falling Maxwell House billboard during a protest against the Bay of Pigs invasionBay of Pigs InvasionThe Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, and comes to in the Mayo ClinicMayo ClinicMayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
, being treated for mental illness under the care of Dr. Kildare F. Troop. Dr. Troop tells Krebs that he has lived in Rochester, MinnesotaRochester, MinnesotaRochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
his whole life and calls him by a name that Krebs hates (never mentioned, but implied to be Gilligan). Krebs refuses to accept this and his story grows more erratic and confusing as Dr. Troop subjects him to powerful electroshock therapy in a final attempt to cure him. The chapter ends ambiguously, with Krebs/Gilligan shouting out various non sequiturs while Dr. Troop turns the voltage ever higher. - The Skipper's Tale (The Skipper'sThe SkipperThe Skipper is the title and nickname of Jonas Grumby, a fictional character from the 1960s situation comedy Gilligan's Island. Played by Alan Hale, Jr., the Skipper was the owner and captain of the S. S...
story): The Skipper reminisces about his service as a PT boatPT boatPT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
skipper in the Pacific WarPacific WarThe Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. The chapter opens with him talking to his friends, the skippers of PT-109Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...
(future president John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
) and PT-73 (Quinton McHale from the TV series McHale's NavyMcHale's NavyMcHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...
). Here, Susan is Screw-Me Susie, a cheap prostitute from the Panama Canal ZonePanama Canal ZoneThe Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
whom both the Skipper and McHale knew. After having a cup of Maxwell House with McHale at Nick's Snack Shack, the Skipper departs with his crew (including a dumb young kid named Algligni) on a supply run to another island. That evening, something large and black gets caught in the propeller and they stallStall (engine)A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process, and in the case of an engine, refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally....
. The dark scares everyone too much to try to free the object, so they all sleep on the deck of the drifting boat. The Skipper has a weird dream with many cameosCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
from fictional characters. Come daybreak, they find that the dark object is the hideously burnt body of a JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese soldier. This terrifies them even more, and they crouch in the bowBow (ship)The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
to hide from it. Eventually, they are rescued by McHale, who doesn't notice the corpse. As they are being towed, Algligni shoots it apart with the boat's .50 Cal. Unable to explain why the body terrified them so much, the crew never tells anyone about it, instead explaining that their propeller was fouled with seaweed. - Alger and Dean and My Son and I and Whatnot (Mr. Howell's story): Here, Howell shows himself to be ignorant and blustering, but also somewhat humble. His first memory recounted is of the time he met Alger HissAlger HissAlger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
and a RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n revolutionary, Mr. Gliaglin, in New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Not noticing obvious signs that the two are CommunistsCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, he helps get Hiss a job in the State DepartmentUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. He also remembers telling Dean AchesonDean AchesonDean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
that Hiss was a Communist, which Acheson took as a joke. He also admits that he knows his wifeLovey Howell- External links :* *...
does not love him nearly as much as he loves her, and even reminisces about a time in the early Forties when he nearly caught her in an indiscretion in a bower with their son's tutor, which she hastily covers up by offering him another cup of Maxwell House, even though the silver pot and china cups have been untouched. Nevertheless, he feels lucky that she decided to live with him anyway, noting that "[h]er presence is my consolation for my inconsolability in her presence". As his rebellious son grows up and begins dating an intelligent French CanadianFrench CanadianFrench Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
girl, Suzanne, Howell finds himself drawn increasingly into a series of comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, Two-Fisted American Stories, that have begun to be delivered instead of his newspaper. They depict various American military and covert operations around the world as fictional adventure stories, such as the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the Phoenix ProgramPhoenix ProgramThe Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
. Eventually, his son reveals to him that these books are propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
, meant to keep the class of older, wealthy people in the country from taking any current events too seriously. After burning the books on his son's orders, however, Howell finds himself listless and disinterested in anything, and eventually has a heart attack. In the hospital, he tells his son his view that dying for a purpose is pointless, and that he intends to slip away, as if after a long and tiring day. - Sail Away (Lovey'sLovey Howell- External links :* *...
story): Mrs. Howell (not actually named Lovey; that was Thurston Howell's later nickname for her) was born into a wealthy Eastern family. She loved her oil-driller father, but despised her suffragetteSuffragette"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
mother and their maid, Lil Gagni. Eventually, her father moved out to Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on the pretext of drilling for oil, but instead began living with another woman, leaving Lovey feeling betrayed. Upon growing up, she lived the opulent lifestyle of the young and rich in the Jazz AgeJazz AgeThe Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
, but her obvious and admitted Elektra complex prevents her from sustaining any real relationship with men, despite Thurston Howell's dogged efforts. She begins a friendship with Daisy Buchanan (a character from the novel The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
). Daisy is struggling for companionship after her husband's death, and tries to get Lovey closer by addicting her to morphineMorphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and pursuing a lesbian relationship with her. At first Lovey resists when she realizes Daisy's lesbian intentions, but in the end, she misses the experience of the morphine trips (which she describes as "sailing away") and drives back to East Egg - past a Maxwell House billboard - to be with her again. Over time, however, Lovey finds herself annoyed with Daisy's possessiveness, unintelligent daughter and yappy lap dogLap dogA lapdog or lap dog is a dog that is small enough to be held in the arms or lie comfortably on a person's lap. Lapdogs are not a specific breed, but is a generic term for a type of dog of small size and friendly disposition....
(named SooSoo). Ultimately, she realizes that the only person she could ever really love would be an idealized version of her father and leaves Daisy. She comes home to find her mother dead. She destroys her mother's life work, a memoirMemoirA memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
about her work as a suffragette, which highly offends Lil Gagni. She then proposes to Thurston Howell, not out of love but instead the desire for a steady, loving presence in her life. - Hello Nurse (Ginger'sGinger GrantGinger Grant is a fictional character in the 1964 to 1967 television sitcom Gilligan's Island.-Career:...
story): Ginger was a SouthernSouthern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
girl from a stereotypical redneck family of the fictional Jolene, AlabamaAlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Ginger goes to Hollywood to become an actress, and as she leaves her bigoted mother tells her "not to sleep with any coons". The first job she got in Hollywood was posing for bondageSadism and masochismSadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
photographs in the employ of a JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
man, Mr. Gagilnil, at the top of whose building is a billboard for Maxwell House. Ultimately, the activities Mr. Gagilnil asks her to perform become too extreme, even for her, so she is replaced by her even more promiscuous sister, Suzannah. She finds work making B movieB movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s for and being the mistress of one Y. Avery Willingham, but leaves when she realizes Willingham is actually her incestuous missing father. Now without work, Ginger and Suzannah are taken by their agent to a mysterious location out in Palm Desert. They ultimately realize they have been brought to Frank Sinatra'sFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
house, where they meet Sinatra, John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
(a little-known Senator at the time) and Sammy Davis, Jr. Kennedy takes Suzannah away, and Davis begins flirting with Ginger. Realizing how open-minded and intelligent she is compared to most of her family, Ginger ignores her mother's demands and beds Davis. Afterwards, the drunken Ginger calls him "Samby" and insinuates that she only slept with him for the thrill of sleeping with a black man. Offended, Davis kicks her out and her agent takes her back to Los Angeles. - Professor X (The Professor'sThe Professor (Gilligan's Island)- External links :*...
story): In this chapter, the Professor is depicted as being highly intelligent yet also an egomaniaEgomaniaEgomania is an obsessive preoccupation with one's self and applies to someone who follows their own ungoverned impulses and is possessed by delusions of personal greatness and feels a lack of appreciation. Someone suffering from this extreme egocentric focus is an egomaniac...
c and a DPWAttraction to disabilityAttraction to disability is a sexualised interest of people in the appearance, sensation and experience of disability. It may extend from normal human sexuality into a type of sexual fetishism...
, seeing his sexual encounters as charity to the imperfect. He worked on the Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
and was personally responsible for the choice of NagasakiNagasakiis the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
as the location of the second A-bombingFat Man"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
. After the war, he is convinced by Roy CohnRoy CohnRoy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
(Joseph McCarthy'sJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
legal counsel) to join a secret cabalCabalA cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
headquartered under Theodore Roosevelt IslandTheodore Roosevelt IslandTheodore Roosevelt Island is a island and a national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The island was given to the American people by the Theodore Roosevelt Association in memory of the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt....
, which has controlled the nation since the warWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Among the Professor's accomplishments were the founding of the CIANational Security Act of 1947The National Security Act of 1947 was signed by United States President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, and realigned and reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II...
, the Suez CrisisSuez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
and the Apollo Program (to get rid of surplus money and talent). Meanwhile, the Professor's desires grew more extreme, and he began taking Laggilin pills for a heart condition. In the mid-sixties1960sThe 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
he started a program to see if the ignorant masses (or Gillies, as he calls them) are really as dumb as all everyone else assumes they are. He marooned six civilians, along with himself, on an island off the coast of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Unknown to the castaways, he could come and go as he pleased, and would sabotage all their efforts to escape. He eventually grew bored with and abandoned the project after three years. This project is implied to be the inspiration for the Gilligan's IslandGilligan's IslandGilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
TV series. To avoid scrutiny during the Watergate scandal, the Professor leaves the underground headquarters, swimming to shore via the emergency exit and removing supplies from a secret cache located directly underneath a Maxwell House billboard to enable him to survive above ground. Later, the Professor decides to work as a high-school history teacher in Arlington, Virginia. He seduces a high school girl, Sue, but is forced to quit his job when her boyfriend discovers them. Eventually, the Professor decides to find the ultimate disability, and settles on a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing. Flying to JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, he finds a woman with the help of an unscrupulous doctor. He rapes her in her hotel room, but the exertion kills her. He finds that he is out of Laggilin, but the doctor refuses to help him. The doctor reveals that he works for the same organization as the Professor, which went global long ago, and that the Professor's services are no longer required. Without his pills, the Professor suffers a mental breakdown. He returns to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and ends up wandering the streets as an insane, homeless man, not remembering anything of his former life. - Yesterday Never Knows (Mary Ann'sMary Ann SummersMary Ann Summers is a fictional character in the television sitcom Gilligan's Island which ran on the CBS network from 1964 to 1967, and has run more or less continuously since in reruns.- Role :...
story): Mary Ann's story is the longest and most detailed in the book, and ties up many loose ends. Mary Ann (named Mary Ann Kilroy in the book, after Kilroy was hereKilroy was hereKilroy was here is an American popular culture expression, often seen in graffiti. Its origins are debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle—a bald-headed man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with the fingers of each hand clutching the wall—is widely known among U.S...
) was a girl from Russell, KansasRussell, KansasRussell is the most populous city in and county seat of Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,506.-History:...
. In the book, Russell is similar to BrigadoonBrigadoonBrigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
in that it only appears to outsiders every hundred years, on the Fourth of JulyIndependence Day (United States)Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
. Her father had died in World War II, and she was raised by her librarian mother. Eventually, she achieves her dream of attending the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris. While there, she dates future New Wave director Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
. Daily life in Paris is disturbed by the bombs of the OAS and the smaller bombs of the safecracking Lili Gang. Before she returns to the United States, Mary Ann finds herself incapable of losing her virginityVirginityVirginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
- her hymenHymenThe hymen is a membrane that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia. The size of the hymenal opening increases with age. Although an often practiced method, it is not possible to confirm with certainty that a girl or woman is a...
grows back soon after any sexual encounter. She eventually finds that this makes her a perpetual innocent. Upon returning, she finds that this trait has made her an outsider, and she can no longer enter Russell. She finds work as a translator at the UN HeadquartersUnited Nations headquartersThe headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River...
in New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, bunking with a roommate named Susan. Nevertheless, she soon becomes dissatisfied with her life, noting that it is not her cup of Maxwell house. Noting several inconsistencies with her life, Mary Ann asks Susan what's going on. In a surreal conversation, Susan explains everything that has happened in the book. The entire book has been a series of fantasies by one Jack Gil Egan. Egan's father, who has the same name, was a Marine in World War II. He later joined the CIA as an international troubleshooter. This meant that Egan, Jr. grew up an American citizen without ever seeing America. Eventually, the Egan family returned to America, where Egan, Jr. tried desperately to be accepted by the other children. He got a nickname which he hated, Gilligan (Gil Egan), after the character on the TV series. He got a girlfriend, Susan, whom he thought of as a symbol of American normality rather than someone to actually be loved. Their differences make Egan feel inadequate, and their relationship was never fruitful. Angrily, Susan began a secret relationship with her history teacher as revenge. Egan broke off Susan's and his relationship when he found the teacher and Susan together in the woods. When he grew up, Egan became a film and TV critic (the same job as Tom Carson). Remembering his old nickname, the adult Egan used the characters from the old Gilligan's Island TV show in a series of fantasies to come to terms with his betrayal by Susan. Her explanation and Egan's fantasy finished, Susan disappears. Mary Ann, however, being a fictional character Egan had merely borrowed, fades back to home on the imaginary island where she and the other castaways have lived since the sixties, when they were first imagined.
Literary significance and criticism
Although the book requires a great knowledge of popular culture, and to some extent, "higher" literature to be comprehensible to its readers, some of Carson's fellow critics (particularly those who were also novelists themselves) admired the work; critics are naturally more likely than "average" readers to have enough cultural knowledge to appreciate the story.- Novelist Madison Smartt BellMadison Smartt BellMadison Smartt Bell is an American novelist. He was raised Nashville, and lived in New York, and London before settling in Baltimore, Maryland....
found the work to be worthy of the title's allusion to Joyce. - Critic Martin Zimmerman of the San Diego Union Tribune found many echoes of Pynchon and other contemporary authors.
- Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
gave the novel a coveted "starred" (favorable) review - Critic Jason Anderson of the Globe & Mail compared it to Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49The Crying of Lot 49The Crying of Lot 49 is a novel by Thomas Pynchon, first published in 1966. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, it is about a woman, Oedipa Maas, possibly unearthing the centuries-old conflict between two mail distribution companies, Thurn und Taxis and the Trystero...
as well as V. - Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood SchwartzSherwood SchwartzSherwood Charles Schwartz was an American television producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, and created the television series Gilligan's Island on CBS and The Brady Bunch on ABC...
was quoted in TV GuideTV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
as saying, "This young man can write."