The Enfield Tennis Academy in Enfield, MA, an elite junior tennis academy founded by Dr. James Incandenza and run by Charles Tavis and Avril Incandenza after James’s suicide. Much of the novel is set at…
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O.N.A.N.
Organization of North American Nations, a “supernation” comprised of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Founded by President Johnny Gentle, O.N.A.N. was masterminded by Rodney Tine, chief of the O.U.S, who saw it as…
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TP
Teleputer, a combination of a TV, film “cartridge” player, computer, and videophone.
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A.F.R.
Assassins Fateuils Rolents (“Wheelchair Assassins” in English). The most violent and feared anti-O.N.A.N. terrorist organization, comprised of Quebecois miners’ sons who lost their legs through playing a game called La Culte du Prochain Train …
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VPD
Video-Physiognomic Dysphoria, a disorder that developed after the rise of “videophony” (video calling). Different solutions were tested to cure VPD, but in the end people just went back to audio-only calling.
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"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
“Prettiest Girl Of All Time” — Orin and his doubles partner’s nickname for Joelle, who is so beautiful that no one talks to her.
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P.W.T.A.
Port Washington Tennis Academy, a rival school that E.T.A. plays in an annual tournament.
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U.S.T.A.
United States Tennis Association, the administrative body that oversees junior tennis. It retains its own separate ranking system even after the establishment of the O.N.A.N.T.A. ranking.
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AA
Alcoholics Anonymous, a recovery program with a distinctive ideology that requires total abstinence from all Substances, submission as a necessary part of sobriety, meetings in which people share stories so that others may “Identify”…
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Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, the eighth year of subsidized time. Most of the action in the novel takes place in this year.
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Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed, an organization founded by the wife on an MP in the mid 20th century. Many members, including Joelle, wear face veils; they also carry membership cards. Marathe…
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Y.D.P.F.A.H.
Year of Dairy Products From the American Heartland, the seventh year of subsidized time.
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Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-to-Install-Upgrade for Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems for Home, Office, or Mobilee
The eighth year of subsidized time and the last year the novel covers. The action in the opening chapter takes place in this year.
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Office of Unspecified Services, a branch of the American government headed by Rodney Tine, Sr. that includes the C.I.A., Secret Service, A.T.F. (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Administration), and O.N.R…
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Viewing room (at E.T.A.) where students can watch cartridges. The cartridge viewer in this room is new and “painfully high-definition.” The room has no windows or other furniture apart from the viewer and the…
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Assistant District Attorney, a state law enforcement official who investigates and prosecutes people who commit crimes.
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DMZ
Described as coming from a kind of mold that “grows on other molds,” DMZ is an incredibly powerful and mysterious hallucinogen. It can have many different effects but often seems to transform a person’s ability…
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