ABSTRACT
In (the utterly unlikely) case his name does not ring an enormous bell, here is a handful of hints about his current (AD 2008) cultural standing in London, its surroundings, and its extensions: Stephen Fry, a hugely popular actor, wit, and raconteur, is a most coveted guest to any London party with an ambition of the “talk of the town” rank, and a most coveted address in the directory of any “network” with a reasonable pretense to prestige and significance. Trying to explain the phenomenal success of the Facebook website (attracting 55 million users and the price evaluation of $15bn), the top British Sunday paper noted that “the crowd” of its users, uncharacteristically for “social networking” sites, “included lots of famous types,” and suggested that this happened since “how else could you ask Stephen Fry to be your friend?”1
