Well, now you've all got me wondering... so i emailed the author this morning (michael chabon; the book was _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_, which has been woven into a few other recent threads) and simply asked him what he meant.

i don't honestly expect a response, but it was kinda fun writing to someone who made me even more cold-fingered than tsuwm or max

EDIT: Oh, and BTW... as for Mav's suggestion that perhaps this is evidence of architecting, this is the same author who gave us the "aetataureate delusions of grandeur" thread a couple of months ago.. remember that one?