wrapped snugly in his own self-absorption , he preferred most nights to read : anything met his standards of readability so long as he didnt come away with any new understanding about the way the world might have been ( he most enjoyed literature which catered rather effectively to his prejudices about the world , but these were rare , so he settled instead for the sort of written matter which was light , uncontroversial and occupied itself and its reader with sentiments that delved nowhere beyond the superficial ) .