Upon the death of the poor Cliffs Notes guy, someone asked me this question: "As a book reviewer, what's your official position on Cliffs Notes?" Hm. I guess I don't think of myself as A Book Reviewer, and if there's an official Book Reviewer Position on Cliffs Notes, no one's let me in on it. I said something to the effect of "I think they're not inherently evil and they can introduce people to basic criticism, but obviously they're not a substitute for reading the book." What a boring answer... the person asking seemed slightly disappointed -- I think he was expecting a diatribe against the "inherent intellectual dishonesty" of humankind. Oops. :)