“the bathroom is the giveaway, the fantasy-killer”
A metaphor highly suggesting that romance is nothing but illusion. The bathroom is where most of the home’s illusion-creation mechanism can be found; all the various individual cosmetic products bought to hide the reality in order to project the façade. A lot of sexual activity goes on in the stories so it is a pretty important metaphor.
Uptight
Mary Ann Singleton is new in the big city after twenty-five years in Smallville. Connie…not so much. The stories are a time capsule of the city in the seventies which means one will come across a metaphorical image every now and then that seem as outdated as a reference to horse and buggies. Understand, however, these were surefire laugh-getters in their day, such as Connie’s observation on the uptight quality of Mary Ann when going out on the town:
“And try not to look like Tricia Nixon reviewing the troops.”
Advice from Queen (Possibly)
The chapter subtitled “Frannie Freaks” begins with, interestingly enough, Frannie’s freakout commencing with a visible case of the wobbles as a panicked cry to Edgar about what she should do. Edgar’s reply is a metaphor for allowing fortune to run its course without worry. It could be that Edgar had grown up hearing this phrase his whole life, but it is also possible that he’s a fan of Queen who released a song in the mid-70’s with the latter part of his advice used as the title:
“I’d say it was in the lap of the gods.”
“He flashed his best Steve McQueen grin.”
Unofficially, of course—since there was no actual vote on the issue—Steve McQueen was considered the coolest man on the planet during the period in which the tales are set. Therefore, any guy trying to grin like McQueen—which could be replicated to a certain with practice by some—was enacting a metaphorical strategy for attracting a potential romantic or sexual interest.
What Search Engines were Made For
Steve McQueen is famous enough to become the topic of a conversation among the young disenfranchised black rapper wannabes in the TV show Atlanta. McQueen is a metaphor terribly far beyond the reach of merely asking someone. Others examples, however, are so specific to their time and place as to almost announce in headlines the specific month in which they were composed. In other words, keep your tablet next to you while reading the book for when you come across inscrutable similes such as this. (Hint: musical remake!)
“DeDe felt like Sally Kellerman on the brink of Shangri-la!”
