A New York Times New and Noteworthy Book From the bestselling author of Waking Up and The End of Faith, an adaptation of his wildly popular, often controversial podcast "Civilization rests on a series of successful conversations." --Sam Harris Sam Harris--neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author--has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. With over one million downloads per episode, these discussions have clearly hit a nerve, frequently walking a tightrope where either host or guest--and sometimes both--lose their footing, but always in search of a greater understanding of the world in which we live. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This book includes a dozen of the best conversations from Making Sense, including talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glenn Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically. Together they shine a light on what it means to "make sense" in the modern world.

The incomparable Rebecca Solnit, author of more than a dozen acclaimed, prizewinning books of nonfiction including Men Explain Things To Me , brings the same dazzling writing to the essays in The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness ; hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "globally wide-ranging and topically urgent and the Boston Globe as "luminous and precise.". As the title suggests, the territory of Solnit's concerns is vast, and in her signature alchemical style she combines commentary on history, justice, war and peace, and explorations of place, art, and community, all while writing with the lyricism of a poet to achieve incandescence and wisdom. Gathered here are celebrated iconic essays along with little-known pieces that create a powerful survey of the world we live in, from the jungles of the Zapatistas in Mexico to the splendors of the Arctic. This rich collection tours places as diverse as Haiti and Iceland; movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring; an original take on the question of who did Henry David Thoreau's laundry; and a searching look at what the hatred of country music really means. Solnit moves nimbly from Orwell to Elvis, to contemporary urban gardening to 1970s California macramé and punk rock, and on to searing questions about the environment, freedom, family, class, work, and friendship. It's no wonder she's been compared in Bookforum to Susan Sontag and Annie Dillard and in the San Francisco Chronicle to Joan Didion. The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness proves Rebecca Solnit worthy of the accolades and honors she's received. Rarely can a reader find such penetrating critiques of our time and its failures leavened with such generous heapings of hope. Solnit looks back to history and the progress of political movements to find an antidote to despair in what many feel as lost causes. In its encyclopedic reach and its generous compassion, Solnit's collection charts a way through the thickets of our complex social and political worlds. Her essays are a beacon for readers looking for alternative ideas in these imperiled times.

The great board game revolution is here-- What do these games tell us about our society, our relationships, and ourselves? "Games, Jonathan Kay and Joan Moriarity show in this lively and insightful book, are not just fun and games: they allow us to explore the complexities of the world, from evolution to war to climate." - STEVEN PINKER, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress "Kay and Moriarity are both skilled writers and elucidators, and their voices are distinct enough to provide the book with a pleasing yin and yang. It's a far more perceptive and intriguing book than it appears at first blush, particularly for those readers who have never thought of games as an artistic medium - at least not one that comments on society." - KIRKUS REVIEWS Board games are among our most ancient and beloved art forms. During the rise of digital media, they fell from prominence for a decade or two but today they are in a new golden age. They're ingeniously designed, beautiful to look at, and exhilarating to play. Games are reclaiming their place in our culture, as entertainment, social activity, and intellectual workout equipment. Alone among all art forms, games require their audience (called "players") to participate. If nobody's playing, there is no game. As a result, games can tell far more about us than our TV shows, movies or music ever could. How does The Game of Life illustrate our changing attitudes about virtue? How does a World War II conflict simulation game explain the shortcomings of a failed novelist? Each chapter of Your Move examines one game, and what it reveals about our culture, history, society, and relationships. The book's two co-authors bring the perspectives of a writer who plays, and a player who writes. Before Jonathan Kay began his distinguished career as an author and commentator, he had a passion for games, and in recent years he has rediscovered them. Meanwhile, Joan Moriarity's career has been spent designing, developing, distributing, art directing, recommending and teaching board games and, recently, writing about them for a wider audience. With its short, punchy essays, and beautiful photographs of the games themselves, every chapter will be a worthwhile read in itself, and the book overall will leave you inspired to discover the truths of your own inner and outer world through play -- whether you're a seasoned veteran or a total newcomer.

"Drawn from more than two decades of pathbreaking writing, the iconic and bestselling David Graeber's most important essays and interviews"--

Tristes Tropiques was an immensely popular bestseller when it was first published in France in 1955. Claude Levi-Strauss's groundbreaking study of the societies of a number of Amazonian peoples is a cornerstone of structural anthropology and an exploration by the author of his own intellectual roots as a professor of philosophy in Brazil before the Second World War, as a Jewish exile from Nazi-occupied Europe, and later as a world-renowned academic (he taught at New York's New School for Social Research and was French cultural attache to the United States). Levi-Strauss's central journey leads from the Amazon basin through the dense upland jungles of Brazil. There, among the Amerindian tribes - the Caduveo, Bororo, Nambikwara, and Tupi-Kawahib - he found "a human society reduced to its most basic expression". Levi-Strauss's discussion of his fieldwork in Tristes Tropiques endures as a milestone of anthropology, but the book is also, in its brilliant diversions on other, more familiar cultures, a great work of literature, a vivid travelogue, and an engaging memoir - a demonstration of the marvelous mental agility of one of the century's most important thinkers. Presented here is the translation by John and Doreen Weightman of the complete text of the revised French edition of 1968, together with the original photographs and illustrations.

"At thirty-six, Sarah Hurwitz was a typical lapsed Jew. On a whim, she attended an introduction to Judaism class and was astonished by what she discovered: thousands of years of wisdom from her ancestors about what it means to be human. That class sparked a journey of discovery that transformed her life. Years later, as Hurwitz wrestled with what it means to be Jewish at a time of rising antisemitism, she wondered: Where had the Judaism she discovered as an adult been all her life? Why hadn't she seen the beauty and depth of her tradition in those dull synagogue services and Hebrew school classes she'd endured as a kid? And why had her Jewish identity consisted of a series of caveats and apologies: I'm Jewish, but not that Jewish . . . I'm just a cultural Jew . . . I'm just like everyone else but with a fun ethnic twist-a dash of neurosis, a touch of gallows humor-a little different, but not in a way that would make anyone uncomfortable. Seeking answers, she went back through time to discover how hateful myths about Jewish power, depravity, and conspiracy have worn a neural groove deep into the world's psyche, shaping not just how others think about Jews, but how Jews think about themselves. She soon realized that the Jewish identity she'd thought was freely chosen was actually the result of thousands of years of antisemitism and two centuries of Jews erasing parts of themselves and their tradition in the hope of being accepted and safe. In As a Jew, Hurwitz documents her quest to take back her Jewish identity, how she stripped away the layers of antisemitic lies that made her recoil from her own birthright and unearthed the treasures of Jewish tradition. With antisemitism raging worldwide, Hurwitz's defiant account of reclaiming the Jewish story and learning to live as a Jew, without apology, has never been timelier or more necessary"-- Provided by publisher.

Anthropologist David Graeber undertakes the first detailed ethnographic study of the global justice movement. The case study at the center of Direct Action is the organizing and events that led to the one of the most dramatic and militant mass protests in recent years -- against the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. Written in a clear, accessible style (with a minimum of academic jargon), this study brings readers behind the scenes of a movement that has changed the terms of debate about world power relations. From informal conversations in coffee shops to large "spokescouncil" planning meetings and tear gas-drenched street actions, Graeber paints a vivid and fascinating picture. Along the way, he addresses matters of deep interest to anthropologists: meeting structure and process, language, symbolism and representation, the specific rituals of activist culture, and much more. Starting from the assumption that, when dealing with possibilities of global transformation and emerging political forms, a disinterested, "objective" perspective is impossible, Graeber writes as both scholar and activist. At the same time, his experiment in the application of ethnographic methods to important ongoing political events is a serious and unique contribution to the field of anthropology, as well as an inquiry into anthropologyʹs political implications.

The author of the classic Keep the River on Your Right here tells the remarkable story of his four years among the Asmat of New Guinea, a jungle-dwelling people rumored to have killed Michael Rockefeller. Instead of ferocious cannibals, Schneebaum found a regal, loving, gentle people who freely accepted him and initiated him into a way of life no outsider had ever seen before. Adopted into an Asmat family in the village whose people were said to have killed Rockefeller, he crossed the boundaries into another culture and another age, learning secrets no other outsider had been allowed to see before. But it wasn't until Schneebaum met Akatpitsjin, a handsome married man with five children, that he entered the erotic world of the Asmat, when the two became "exchange friends' and lovers, a practice basic to the sexual life of the village. Schneebaum's encounter with the Asmat ultimately became something more intimate and liberating for him than the mere discovery of tribal secrets. He confronted himself. His odyssey is as much the record of a journey into himself as it is a unique and sensitively observed account of a vanishing society, written with a shimmering sensuality that has no equal in the literature of anthropology or self-confession.

"In recent and ongoing uprisings all around the world, from Santiago to Hong Kong, many of the protesters' aims have been consistent: justice, an end to political corruption, and a return to principles of collective good. Yet there are also specific and diverse struggles such as demands for direct democracy (as in France), the rejection of ethnic or sectarian identities (Iraq and Lebanon), and the fate of the planet itself. Uprisings provides one way to find a common thread in all this by examining the similarities and differences among a full range of rebellions in the past, from slave revolts in ancient Egypt to the fall of the Berlin Wall to the the women's revolution in Rojava, northern Syria. Bridging historical analysis and relevant contemporary art, Uprisings offers tools for visualizing history that offer a vivid point of entry to the information. Whereas existing narratives of radical social change have debated the virtues and vices of individual heroes (Jesus, Mandela, Gandhi), Uprisings follows in the footsteps of Howard Zinn, viewing major events as the product of a confluence of efforts by multiple actors, usually from vastly different backgrounds that have tended to be marginalized, their perspectives written out of official history.In recent and ongoing uprisings all around the world, from Santiago to Hong Kong, many of the protesters' aims have been consistent: justice, an end to political corruption, and a return to principles of collective good. Yet there are also specific and diverse struggles such as demands for direct democracy (as in France), the rejection of ethnic or sectarian identities (Iraq and Lebanon), and the fate of the planet itself. Uprisings provides one way to find a common thread in all this by examining the similarities and differences among a full range of rebellions in the past, from slave revolts in ancient Egypt to the fall of the Berlin Wall to the the women's revolution in Rojava, northern Syria. Bridging historical analysis and relevant contemporary art, Uprisings offers tools for visualizing history that offer a vivid point of entry to the information. Whereas existing narratives of radical social change have debated the virtues and vices of individual heroes (Jesus, Mandela, Gandhi), Uprisings follows in the footsteps of Howard Zinn, viewing major events as the product of a confluence of efforts by multiple actors, usually from vastly different backgrounds that have tended to be marginalized, their perspectives written out of official history"--

One Discipline, Four Ways offers the first book-length introduction to the history of each of the four major traditions in anthropology—British, German, French, and American. The result of lectures given by distinguished anthropologists Fredrik Barth, Andre Gingrich, Robert Parkin, and Sydel Silverman to mark the foundation of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, this volume not only traces the development of each tradition but considers their impact on one another and assesses their future potentials. Moving from E. B. Taylor all the way through the development of modern fieldwork, Barth reveals the repressive tendencies that prevented Britain from developing a variety of anthropological practices until the late 1960s. Gingrich, meanwhile, articulates the development of German anthropology, paying particular attention to the Nazi period, of which surprisingly little analysis has been offered until now. Parkin then assesses the French tradition and, in particular, its separation of theory and ethnographic practice. Finally, Silverman traces the formative influence of Franz Boas, the expansion of the discipline after World War II, and the "fault lines" and promises of contemporary anthropology in the United States.

A leading authority's panoramic history compares the experiences of immigrant-ethnic groups, African-Americans, and Native Americans to each other and in relation to the national political culture. Winner of the John Hope Franklin Prize (1991) Winner of the Theodore Saloutos Award from the Immigration History Society (1993) Do recent changes in American law and politics mean that our national motto — e pluribus unum — is at last becoming a reality? Lawrence H. Fuchs searches for answers to this question by examining the historical patterns of American ethnicity and the ways in which a national political culture has evolved to accommodate ethnic diversity. Fuchs looks first at white European immigrants, showing how most of them and especially their children became part of a unifying political culture. He also describes the ways in which systems of coercive pluralism kept persons of color from fully participating in the civic culture. He documents the dismantling of those systems and the emergence of a more inclusive and stronger civic culture in which voluntary pluralism flourishes. In comparing past patterns of ethnicity in America with those of today, Fuchs finds reasons for optimism. Diversity itself has become a unifying principle, and Americans now celebrate ethnicity. One encouraging result is the acculturation of recent immigrants from Third World countries. But Fuchs also examines the tough issues of racial and ethnic conflict and the problems of the ethno-underclass, the new outsiders. The American Kaleidoscope ends with a searching analysis of public policies that protect individual rights and enable ethnic diversity to prosper. Because of his lifelong involvement with issues of race relations and ethnicity, Lawrence H. Fuchs is singularly qualified to write on a grand scale about the interdependence in the United States of the unum and the pluribus. His book helps to clarify some difficult issues that policymakers will surely face in the future, such as those dealing with immigration, language, and affirmative action.

This edited collection examines the role that language has played in forming modern European nations. With language an omnipresent issue within the European Union, the importance languages have played within the histories and present situations of member nations is a crucial topic. Drawing on an international cast of contributors, the book explores the issues of monolingualism vs. plurilingualism within individual nations, the revival of languages in nations such as former soviet republics, and concludes with a look at language in the electronic age.

Lisa Fittko's Escape through the Pyrenees (Northwestern, 1991) told the extraordinary true tale of her life as an "enemy alien" in France before and after the Nazi invasion of 1940, when she and her husband smuggled small groups of refugees to safety along a tortuous route through the mountains. Solidarity and Treason: Resistance and Exile, 1933-1940 is Fittko's equally gripping memoir of the preceding years in the underground and exile. The volume opens with Hitler's.

As Norman G. Finkelstein sets out in this concise, paradigm-shifting new book, a closer examination of Israel’s motives reveals a state whose repeated recourse to savage war is far from irrational. Rather, Israel’s attacks have been designed to sabotage the possibility of a compromise peace with the Palestinians, even on terms that are favorable to it. Looking also at machinations around the 2009 UN sponsored Goldstone report and Turkey’s forlorn attempt to seek redress in the UN for the killing of its citizens in the 2010 attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla, Finkelstein documents how Israel has repeatedly eluded accountability for what are now widely recognized as war crimes. Further, he shows that, though neither side can claim clear victory in these conflicts, the ensuing stalemate remains much more tolerable for Israelis than for the beleaguered citizens of Gaza. A strategy of mass non-violent protest might, he contends, hold more promise for a Palestinian victory than military resistance, however brave.

Through two award-winning National Public Radio documentaries, and now this powerful book, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman have made it their mission to be loud voices from one of this country's darkest places, Chicago's Ida B. Wells housing project. Set against the stunning photographs of a talented young photographer from the projects, Our America evokes the unforgiving world of these two amazing young men, and their struggle to survive unrelenting tragedy. With a gift for clear-eyed journalism, they tell their own stories and others, including that of the death of Eric Morse, a five-year-old who was dropped to his death from the fourteenth floor of an Ida B. Wells apartment building by two other little boys. Sometimes funny, often painful, but always charged with their dream of Our America, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman reach out to grab your attention and break your heart.

Twenty sensational erotic stories that are sinfully good from Xcite Books, winners of the ETO Best Erotic Book Brand 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Featuring stories by some of the best writers in the erotic field including Kay Jaybee, Angela Meadows, Elizabeth Cage and Penelope Friday. Indulge yourself in this sensational collection and discover the pleasure of Ultimate Sins. French Connection by Cathy King Escaping to France in the wake of a failed marriage, Mandy attempts to put the past behind her and indulge in a change of scenery. Bad memories fade as the delights of her holiday destination reveal themselves. With British men off of the menu, she is determined to sample the local fare. A chance encounter following an early evening trip to the beach allows Mandy to experience some of the local delicacies. But, with her appetite whetted all she can crave for is more. Eat Me by Elizabeth Cage Tired after a hard day at work all Joanne wants is to go home, relax and indulge her sweet tooth. A chance encounter at the bus station results in a journey home by quite a different route. Her unforeseen diversion is not without its delights. As the evening unfolds she discovers an appetite that needs to be satiated, and is soon treated to a gourmet feast from a menu of the very risqué kind. Vichysoisse by Astrid L. Gathering ingredients to make a soup at the local supermarket, Sophia encounters the highly charged and seductive Samantha, and is immediately enchanted. Intoxicated by her presence she invites Samantha for a culinary lesson in the preparation of Vichysoisse. As the cooking begins, intimacy, passion and anticipation quickly swirl into a heady infusion that consumes the both of them. Unlike the cold soup that brings them together, their relationship soon progresses from a light simmer to boiling desire. Bamboobzled by Landon Dixon When gorgeous celluloid dame, Brinn Stones saunters'' into his office, hard-nosed PI Jim Brubaker is offered a case he simply cannot refuse. Charged with the task of unearthing a seedy blackmailing scam, Brubaker is forced to trawl the seedy underbelly of the City of Angels. As the case reveals itself, he soon discovers that Tinsel Town is not quite as it seems. It''s a dog-eat-dog world, where just about anything goes. Pretty Young Things by Cathryn Cooper It''s the Roaring Twenties, a decade of decadence, prosperity and wild-abandon. In need of fresh excitement, Carew accepts the challenge of a car race to the nearby abbey ruins. With the brazen Suzanne at his side, he leads the rowdy crowd out into the dark night. Once at the ruins, Suzanne embarks upon a ribald display that soon drives those in attendance into a wanton frenzy. Unmoved, Carew leaves the gathering to wander the ruins, chancing upon a mysterious woman and an erotic encounter of his own. Purposeful Liaison by Shermaine Williams When work calls her husband back from their romantic island holiday, Charlotte is left to enjoy what''s left on her own, rather that reigniting the lost passion of her marriage. Her sudden abandonment soon registers on the radar of Matthew, a well-toned holiday-maker looking for company during his stay. His persistent attention soon wears down Charlotte''s resolve, and a late-night invitation for a drink releases more passion than she can possibly control. Alice and the Red Queen by Jean Roberta When a young student takes on the job of gardener for an erstwhile tennis star, gardening is not the only activity to leave her hot and breathless. The Red Queen soon sets her sights on the nubile employee and enters into a game where domination is the ultimate prize. As the game begins, the temperature starts to rise as the former tennis queen samples the many new delights that await her in the intimacy of her well-maintained grounds. Serial Satisfaction by Cathryn Cooper Michael can''t wait to indulge in his affair with his best friend''s wife. In the seclusion of a lay-by Crystal waits for her lover, but has demands of her own in mind. As Michael revels in her sensuous affection, Crystal takes him to the brink only to stop. A girl needs commitment and that''s exactly what she wants. Crystal wants Michael for herself, not to be shared with his wife. As Michael ponders his next move, he soon learns an important lesson, that Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. Shared Experience by Lynn Lake The saying goes two''s company and three''s a crowd, but is that always the case? David is desperate for Amy to join him in realising his yearning for a threesome. Reluctant at first, Amy eventually succumbs to his wish and arranges for the arrival of the additional party: the voluptuous Cassandra. With her appetite whetted, Amy soon becomes a willing participant in David''s lustful scenario. However, her involvement is always going to be on her own terms, whatever they may be. Sweet Dreams by Jade Taylor Horny, frustrated and eager to get her toy boy home to the bedroom, Ellie must first lure Greg away from the nightclub. However, the easy distractions of youth interfere with her intentions, despite her most determined and seductive efforts. However, fate works in mysterious ways, and an after hours invitation to Greg''s friend Adam''s home provides her with a golden opportunity. Employing the power of her sensual allure, she teases them both only to enjoy a return that doubles her delight. The Florist by Eva Hore Melissa is determined to have her way with John the hunky Florist. With a plan in mind, she arrives late one evening to pursue her intention. As Melissa embarks on her seductive task, events take a very sudden and unexpected twist. Melissa soon finds herself at the centre of a wanton scenario that takes her on a wild, new experience of pleasure and pain. Behind closed doors at the florists will never be the same again. A Lesson For Victoria by Angela Meadows Dispatched by her Father, Victoria arrives at a school for young ladies nestled high the Tyrol. It soon becomes clear, that she has been sent to be educated as a lady. Under the expert guidance of Madams Thackeray and Hulot Victoria is to be prepared for presentation as a desirable Wife for high society gentleman. As the first evening session in the curriculum unfolds, it''s soon apparent to Victoria that her two-year attendance will be extremely hands on. Story Telling by Jim Baker Reality and imagination become entwined in a series of carnal encounters. A lecturer stumbles upon some raunchy extra-curricular activity in the University lecture hall, whilst a Librarian offers a personal and energetic critique of an author''s work. Yet it''s the mind behind these tales that feeds eagerly from its muse. As the plots are energetically worked out, the Authors fantasies are the only limitation. Beautiful Sin by Penelope Friday Two friends met again after a period of prolonged absence and cordially acknowledge each other. The reality is that both Catherine and Elizabeth share a passion that the world must never know. Against a backdrop of strict moral codes, their true feelings would see them incarcerated and separated forever; their lust for each other deemed a sin. Yet when the lights go out and others settle for the night, both women can meet secretly once more to share in their beautiful sin. The Spying Game by Roz MacLeod It''s the height of the Cold War and the nation is on its guard against the spectre of foreign espionage. When Sandi, a top agent in the Secret Service is called before Control, she is presented with a mission to uncover a possible double agent. Determined to safeguard the Nation''s secrets and using the cover of an erotic dancer, Sandi embarks on her wild and raunchy assignment, using every vice at her disposal to catch her target. The Librarian by Eva Hore A young woman returns early to her shared apartment, to find her scantily clad room mate preparing for a mysterious night-out. Where does a Librarian go after a day in the stacks? Imagination runs riot as an increasingly lecherous scenario unfolds in the young woman''s mind. Her room mate''s daytime mousy demeanour, tight bun and glasses are soon discarded, to reveal a wanton dominatrix hell bent on tasting the delights of her desires. Wreck-Her by Lynn Lake A business woman is unexpectedly delayed as her company car breaks-down, deep in the sun-parched Manitoba prairie. With no cell phone signal and the soaring heat of the surroundings rising, desperation rapidly begins to set in. Help soon arrives in the form of a tow truck that stops to offer assistance. After thoroughly appraising the situation, the truck driver is soon ready to dispense a unique form of roadside assistance that ultimately proves much to the woman''s delight. Mixed Blessings by Phoebe Grafton Two friends are in need of temporary relief from their respective husbands. With one husband too demanding and the other too languid, both wives decide that a weekend exchange is the best tonic. A plan is hatched, and after a night out together is put into effect, as door keys are exchanged for each others home and husband. The weekend that follows indulges each in the marital secrets of the other and in doing so sheds light over the question: is the grass always greener on the other side? Blindspot by Elspeth Potter Becca is both excited and intrigued when Dante brings a new toy to their swingers'' event. But what fascinates her more is how he wants to use it. Very soon, she is joined by Marcus who assists both Dante and herself in experiencing a new, exciting and heightened pleasure. As they plunge into their shared lascivious adventure, all inhibitions fall away leading t

Nation-Building and Citizenship examines how states and civil societies interact in their formation of a new political community. Reinhard Bendix directs our attention to relations established between individual and state during nation-building. While the development of citizenship and the interplay between tradition and modernity are important in this process of social and political change, his key theme is the examination of authority patterns.Bendix explores in depth the possibilities of an alternative approach to the neo-evolutionary orientation many social scientists take in their analyses of the underdeveloped areas of the world. The subjects he discusses include transformations of Western European societies since medieval times, extension of citizenship to the lower classes, bureaucratization in the nation-state, private and public authority in Western Europe and Russia, aristocracies and development in Germany and Japan, and the development of public authority in India's political community. The book concludes with a reconsideration of ideas widely held about tradition, modernity, and modernization.In a new introduction, John Bendix writes that what continues to make this book relevant is not only what it can tell us about past and present nation-building, including the transformations of the 1980s and 1990s, but its more general messages about the nature of social and political transformations. Nation-Building and Citizenship is a necessary addition to the libraries of political scientists, sociologists, historians, and scholars of comparative studies.

Gossip is no trivial matter; despite its reputation, Epstein argues, it is an eternal and necessary human enterprise. Proving that he himself is a master of the art, Epstein serves up delightful mini-biographies of the Great Gossips of the Western World, along with many choice bits from his own experience. He also makes a powerful case that gossip has morphed from its old-fashioned best--clever, mocking, a great private pleasure--to a corrosive new-school version, thanks to the reach of the mass media and the Internet. Written in his trademark erudite and witty style, Gossip captures the complexity of this immensely entertaining subject.

This book is a tribute to some of America's greatest characters, people holding on to unique ways of life at all costs. A castle builder, a forty-year veteran Woolworth's lunch-counter waitress, a moonshiner, and the president of The Brooklyn Elite Checker Club are among this varied group of ordinary people who prevail against all odds. They are Dewey Chafin and Barbara Elkins, snake handlers for the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia; Amos Powers, caretaker of America's only coon-dog graveyard in Colbert County, Alabama; Dixie Evans, curator of Exotic World, Museum of Burlesque in Helendale, California; and Mike Gashwarza of the Hopi tribe, fighting against electricity being brought to Old Oraibi, Arizona, the oldest town in North America. David Isay's compelling, often humorous profiles are accompanied by Harvey Wang's wonderful portraits of fifty such people, die-hard individualists who speak for themselves, illuminating their remarkable lives and personalities. Henry Roth's foreword is a moving testament to the creativity, tenacity, and dignity these people possess.

From the perspective of Western modernity, humanity inhabits a disenchanted cosmos. Gods, spirits, and ancestors have left us for a transcendent beyond, no longer living in our midst and being involved in all matters of everyday life from the trivial to the dire. Yet the vast majority of cultures throughout human history treat spirits as very real persons, members of a cosmic society who interact with humans and control their fate. In most cultures, even today, people are but a small part of an enchanted universe misconstrued by the transcendent categories of “religion” and the “supernatural.” The New Science of the Enchanted Universe shows how anthropologists and other social scientists must rethink these cultures of immanence and study them by their own lights. In this, his last, revelatory book, Marshall Sahlins announces a new method and sets an exciting agenda for the field. He takes readers around the world, from Inuit of the Arctic Circle to pastoral Dinka of East Africa, from Araweté swidden gardeners of Amazonia to Trobriand Island horticulturalists. In the process, Sahlins sheds new light on classical and contemporary ethnographies that describe these cultures of immanence and reveals how even the apparently mundane, all-too-human spheres of “economics” and “politics” emerge as people negotiate with, and ultimately usurp, the powers of the gods.