Unexpected Allusions™

I.

Johnnie walked down Iberville Street toward the river. He was eager to get back to his hotel room and read more of Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy. Burton's book, the first treatise on the subject written by a layman, had been published originally in 1621 and was still relevant today. As Johnnie turned the corner and headed north on Decatur, he repeated to himself Burton's definition of melancholy: "A kind of dotage without a fever, having for his ordinary companions fear and sadness, without any apparent occasion.

—from Barry Gifford's Wild at Heart (from Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels—it's great)

II.

"It's called Playworld," she said. It's loosely based on this Piers Anthony book I read as a kid called Split Infinity. In this world, all anybody does all day long is play games. [...]" —from Adam Ross's Mr. Peanut

Two peninsulas

This is from Strange Maps, via Weekend Stubble—the states of the U.S. renamed after countries with equivalent GNPs. I like that Florida = Korea, two peninsulas.

In a nice coincidence: Piers Anthony's Xanth books have a map showing that fictional realm to have the shape of Florida...and I think there is at least one book in which Korea is substituted...Ah!! Wikipedia says:

In some instances, Xanth has been compared to other peninsulas. It has been described as similar to the Korean Peninsula with the Gap Chasm being used as a metaphor for the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and the location of Castle Roogna being similar to the location of Seoul, South Korea.