To try to get a discussion going, I thought I'd start theads about each chapter of the book and talk about things that jumped out at me and how I incorporated them into my solve, if so. This is not really a deep dive, but just spitballing. Hopefully others can chime in with their insights. Some (most) of these will be things everyone else noticed also, but perhaps others not so much.
Things that stood out to me in Important Literature:
1. Obviously he's suggesting that at least some clues were inspired by literature adn it helps to be well read. Some potential reading material that pertained to my solve came from Tom Brown's Schooldays (HoB), Longfellow's Song of Thor (no place for the meek),The Odyssey (the end is drawing nigh).
2. He goes to the now defunct Borders. Everyone noticed this. My solve placed the location near the MT/WY boarder.
3. And I swear that cup all but covered her whole face. I didn't find anything, but throughout TFTW and OUAW he has pictures of text that are covered by other pictures. An example would be the Gilbert Islands being obscured in the Chapter Memories Will Never Die in OUAW. Gilbert didn't factor into my solve, but did in the location.
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls and Great Gatsby. Everyone noticed that he's describing A Farewell to Arms and hence to look for misdirection. However, most probably don't realize that if you actually went to the bookshelf in a large bookstore looking for Hemingway (which is just to the right of Fitzgerald of course), you may come across Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes.
5. Catcher in the Rye. Lots has been said about how this could be a hint at a DB Cooper connection. Treasure Warriors had some interesting things to say about the topic.
6. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Much has been said about thinking metaphorically and applying Fenn's comment about being right 85 % of the time.
7. Time Magazine. JD Salinger died Jan 27, 2010. Not sure what exactly what to make of that, but it lines up with being around the time of the start of the Chase and a Historian named Howard Zinn died that same day.
What stood out to you that I missed?
F called it Important Literature because literature is comprised of letters which make words. The spot that was so important had a few letters but no d. F showed a sign on the TTOTC dust jacket and continued sharing signs in numerous stories. F chose to use things that most average people could understand but would walk right on by physically and in their minds.
Chapter 1 Important Literature
1st thing you must do to solve the poem is to decipher the poem's riddle [the one thing]. It's sorta like riding a backwards bicycle. Oops, guess I'm blending two topic here, but no one wants to talk about it. lol
If you don't know what I'm not talkin' about, then just don't pay me no nevermind ... mountain digger
Important literature is the dictionary. If you didn’t look up at least a dozen words it was a mistake.
Important Literature is a literary canon.
