The Swerve, Stephen Greenblatt.

But, of course, as he approached his targeted monastery, Poggio would have buried these views in his breast.  He may have despised monastic life, but he understood it well.  He knew precisely where in the monastery he needed to go and what ingratiating words he had to speak to gain access to the things he most wanted to see.

That's Greenblatt too, the ingratiator. He and his wife are spending the academic year in Rome.