From: tony.ellis@futurenet.co.uk (Tony Ellis)
Subject: (urth) Are the Cohen brothers Wolfe fans???
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 17:18:39 +0100

As we all know, whenever anyone asks Gene Wolfe what films he's seen
recently, the answer is invariably the Cohen brothers' "Fargo". I've now
discovered compelling evidence to suggest that the Cohen's are just as
keen on Wolfe.

Anybody else seen their latest, "The Big Lebowski"? There's a scene at
the bowling alley, quite early on, when John Goodman shushes the boring,
weedy member of his and Jeff Bridges' bowling team for coming in halfway
through a conversation and asking questions. His reprimand is to say:
"you're like a small child, coming into a movie theatre halfway through,
and-" 

He never gets to finish the sentence, but keen-eyed Wolfe fans will
already have spotted that this is almost word-for-word the reprimand
that Cutthroat receives from the leader of the half-human cyborg people
in the underground city in "Tracking Song", where he is told that he is
like a child coming into theatre halfway through a play, with no idea
what is really going on.

Is this a really common expression that I've just somehow never ever
come across before? Or coincidence? Or are the world's most inventive
and wacked-out film-makers really reading the world's most inventive and
wacked-out SF writer? 
:-)

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/