Hamlet Quotes

I realized that most people don't have a clue about Hamlet (he is the guy, usually in a cape toting Yorick's skull and responsible for the "north by northwest" quote link that may have brought you here -- in Shakespeare-ese it means I'm only pretending to be crazy), yet I realized something in one of those convoluted moments that is my brain -- Shakespeare is responsible for this very footnote blog.

Compliments of Wikimedia Commons

That is right, a guy that has been dead for over 400 years is responsible for my love of footnotes, because I never knew what the fuck he was talking about and he was obviously brilliant.  The book had all these cool footnotes that let me know just what he was talking about.

Next was T.S. Eliot's Wasteland replete with footnotes explaining the depth of his biblical, mythological and literary references.

Finally, a contemporary author of my own age (alas poor Wallace, I never knew him Horatio, this author of Infinite Jest) glorified the footnote in his novel that begins with a literary knock, knock joke --

Hamlet begins:  Who's There?

Infinite Jest begins:  I am.
Footnote Fetish Blog:  I am Who?

Infinite Jest:  I am the footnote ghost of Hamlet's father.