A lot of the books I review here are ones that have been foisted off on me by my friend Gin Rummy. This is basically a process that's been going on since we were in college together a quarter century ago, and lived in the same dorm. He'd get bored and borrow some of my books, I'd get bored and borrow some of his, and then we'd yak about 'em afterwards.

I’m a big fan of Chris Elliot. I think. I generally *say* that I am, and more than that I generally *think* that I am, and I’m *pretty* sure that I am, but occasionally - through no fault of his own - I can’t remember why. Then I doubt. Then time passes, workaday life makes my doubts fade, and I’m a fan again, until something causes me to dwell on it, then the doubts remain. The thing that (mostly) convinces me I’m a fan despite my vacillation is that I’ve never said, “Oh, I hate him!”

Entertainment has always been a part of socialization. Learning social cues, acceptable behavior, unacceptable responses, biases, values, etc. That's a natural role from cave man days on up. The propaganda uses of this are pretty obvious, but what's *less* so (And probably more valuable in the long run) is the indoctrination value.