I think I've mentioned in the past that I loathe "For Dummies" books on principle. I'm sure they're wonderful repositories of beginner wisdom, but I just can't bring myself to respect any book thats primary selling point lies in being deliberately patronising.

I was in a bookshop last night, when I saw...

I spent some time trying to work out: "in what possible situation could such a book be useful?" Dummies books are for when you want a quick, broad overview of a subject from a position of relative ignorance. When would you need such a rapid introduction to Catholicism?

All I could think of would be if you had just started going out with an Italian girl, and tomorrow was dinner with her parents.