and make a point of not putting the dummy down all evening.

...even when someone sets it on fire.

He turns into a burning brand at one point, I thought.

*seconds the recommendation of pameladean's Tam Lin. Published by Tor. Set in a liberal arts college. It's stuffed with quotation and allusion - if you're the Dorothy L. Sayers type, you'll probably like this too. It's one of my two favourite books ever.