and was delighted to discover he wrote a very good and funny short story. It's about a guy who reads the wikipedia page about Maoism in the middle of the night and decides to make it his whole personality.

He looked at his Star Wars toys. [...] “I love these characters, and yet, right now, I hate them,” Adam thought. He pictured little Maoist toys instead. What did these Maoist toys look like? Chinese men and women wearing red and gray. Adam’s life seemed more interesting, larger, with these Maoist toys on his bookshelf.
This is so good, go read it, it's hilarious
Which book was the correct choice for a beginner such as himself, someone who needed basic concepts defined, but who also desired mastery, total comprehension?
This is so wonderful. I feel so seen by this story