Umberto Eco on what creates a book or movie into a cult object

“What are the requirements for transforming a book or movie into a cult object?” Mr. Eco asked. “The work must be loved, obviously, but this is not enough. It must provide a completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the fan’s private sectarian world, a world about which one can make up quizzes and play trivia games so that the adepts of the sect recognize through each other a shared expertise.”

Yes, I'm quoting an Umberto Eco quotation in the New York Times.

I'm also wearing an ascot and sipping a French aperatif. Just kidding.

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