Diatribe of a Mad Housewife/References

Cultural references

 * The title word plays off of the book and film .
 * Homer sings a song to the tune of "" by.
 * Homer briefly works at the "Boris Car Loft", a reference to.
 * The ambulance Homer buys is based on a 1959 Eureka Cadillac ambulance formerly operated by the Volunteer First Aid Squad, which has since been restored and is now in the Netherlands.
 * Marge denotes the similarity of the picture behind the couch to the classic novel, Moby-Dick (the picture is, in fact, called "Scene from Moby Dick"). It inspired her novel, when she thought "No one's done a book about whaling before!" Moreover, her book is about whaling and its ending has Temperance's husband dying in a similar manner to that of Ahab, from the same novel.

Trivia

 * This is Marvin Monroe's first appearance since season 5's "Bart's Inner Child", partly because Harry Shearer found voicing Monroe quite annoying.
 * Whenever season 15 is re-aired on Channel 4 in the UK, this episode is left out, most likely due to the scene where Captain Mordecai stabs Cyrus Manly with a harpoon.

Goofs

 * When Homer is reading the book, he says, "Temprance Barrow was heavy with feeling. She "snore"..." but when he is listening to it, it says Temprance Barrow was heavy with feeling. Her" The goof is that Homer says She, but the Olsen's say Her at the beginning.
 * As Homer read a first-draft, some lines may have been edited slightly in the final book.