the film. References in popular culture In the 2000 film High Fidelity, the main character, Rob (played by John Cusack) owns a record store. While recounting tales of past lovers he says: "I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest. I mean, I've read books like The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Love in the Time of Cholera, and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding." At the end of Jeanine Cummins' novel American Dirt, the protagonist Lydia re-reads Amor en los tiempos del colera, first in Spanish, then again in English. The final two sentences of the novel reference the protagonist's love of the book: "No one can take this from her. This book is hers alone." In the British sitcom Bad Education, the text is used in the after school book club Rosie Gulliver attends, and Alfie Wickers decides to join them to impress Rosie and attempts to read the book in six hours. However, he finds the book boring and gets his class to read one chapter each and bring him their versions of the summary. In the episode "Milk" of the first season of the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the novel is mentioned as being the favorite of the show's protagonist, Ted Mosby. He is also shown reading the book at the Farhamptom Train Station right before he meets the titular Mother in the finale episode "Last Forever". In "Lisa's Rival" (The Simpsons''' second episode of season 6), Marge Simpson is seen reading Love in the Time of Scurvy, a clear reference to the novel. In the Gossip Girl episode "New Haven Can Wait" (season 2, episode 6), Jordan, a Literature professor at Yale University, asks Nate what he thinks of the book. However, he has never read it and clearly does not understand the reference. In the film Playing It Cool, Topher Grace plays the character Scott. Scott is a writer and is deeply moved by the book so much that he often leaves copies of the book in public places for others to find and read. He leaves a note in the book for the assumed reader explaining how this book changed his life. Chris Evans, the main character/narrator, finally picks up the book to read. After reading the book, the narrator applies it to his own life. He says that