The New York Review of Books: Europe vs. America is a well written, provocative article, but also delightful for the footnotes (!)

"1. The US television network that recently broadcast a passing glimpse at Janet Jackson's anatomy was excoriated for its wanton lapse of taste; but the avalanche of accompanying commercials for products designed to enhance male potency passed quite without comment. The female breast, it seems, can rot a nation's moral core; but malfunctioning penises are wholesome family fare."

Quality is more than skin deep, and a footnote can be a place to relax and chat (perhaps cattily), as well as cite, as Nicholson Baker well knows.