‘‘Honestly I didn’t even remember some of them, especially when they’re bumped up against one another like a strange, out-of-time fantasy dinner party. Nietzsche next to Warhol next to Kant and Meryl Streep! But philosophy and the 1980s art world and fame are central preoccupations of that novel,’’ Shapiro wrote in a recent email. ‘‘I find it fascinating to see the cultural and historical references, especially in fiction, laid out visually — sort of a Rorschach test of the writer’s mind and preoccupations.’’