This latter infelicity is no doubt a consequence of the work being based on lecture course notes - a point that Fr Selman, to his credit, underlines at the very beginning of the book. (faith.org.uk)
It's a reference from a joke at the very beginning of the book and it really does define this character. (bookbrowse.com)
(Donald Maass puts his lesson on stakes at the very beginning of his book The Breakout Novelist.) (rmfw.org)