class, the authors argue that despite its sometimes aimless appearance and apparently unstructured content, casual conversation is a highly structured activity and plays a critical role in the social construction of reality.

Introduction: Collecting and transcribing casual conversation; 1. Making meanings in everyday talk; 2. Relevant approaches to analysing casual conversation; 3. The grammar of casual conversation: enacting role relations; 4. The semantics of casual conversation: encoding attitude and humour in casual conversation; 5. The discourse structure of casual conversation: negotiating support and confrontation; 6. Genre in casual conversation: telling stories; 7. Gossip: establishing and maintaining group membership; 8. Conclusion

'Notably well-organized and clearly written, this book shows the reader not only how to carry out a systematic analysis but also what questions might be illuminated by doing so...All in all, Suzanne Eggins and Diana Slade have produced a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers interested in the language and meanings of casual conversation.' Deborah Cameron 'The wide range of relevant phenomena covered and the commitment to theoretical consistency combine very effectively to yield an intellectually exciting book...I have found that students tune in exceptionally well to Eggins' and Slade's style of presentation -Analysing Casual Conversation is my favourite on the topic at the moment.' Erich Steiner 'The reader-friendly construction of the book is one of its most valuable characteristics. Because of this construction, the insights contained in the material are made available both for theoretical pursuit within the academy and for more practical application in the classroom' Susan Feez, Education Australia Online