Ampersand books; EL & IC and A & B

I have just finished "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. Reviews have been mixed as I understand it and an interesting take is available at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_Loud_and_Incredibly_Close

I enjoyed the book, but like Harry Siegel find many things that have been used elsewhere. Interestingly one of my more recent posts on Helen DeWitt's book comes to mind. The young boy in that book is looking for his father. The search in "The Last Samurai" is a bit more refined than Oskar's search for the right "Black"., who will know what the key will open.
Actually all the allusions to other books are quite a treat for those of us who read alot. I am not offended by someone borrowing, it is universal.
But aside from professional criticisms of Foer's book I can say that I enjoyed it and he is really funny at times. He also captures what I believe to be the thinking/resoning of today's youth, who must deal with a complex world that never seems to follow any "rules".

Just to round out my reading chronicle this week I will mention "Ash & Bone" by John Harvey. This was the first Harvey book I have read and I can look forward to reading more because he has written quite a lot. Can't say that the book was great, but it was adequate.

P.S. Wikipedia also will tell you lots about ampersand.