The Goffman Reader aims to bring the most complete collection of Erving Goffman's (1922-1982) writing and thinking as a sociologist. Among the most inventive, unique and individualistic of thinkers in American sociology, his works first appeared in the early 1950's at a time when a more formal, traditional sociology dominated the scene.

"Goffman" by Charles Lemert. Goffman's Social Theory by Ann Branaman. Part I: The Production of Self:. 1. Self Claims On Cooling the Mark Out: Some Aspects of Adaptation to Failure. 2. Self-Presentation The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. 3. The Self as Ritual Object The Nature of Deference and Demeanor. 4. The Self and Social Roles Role Distance. Part II: The Nature of Social Life:. 5. Social Life as Drama The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. 6. Social Life as Ritual On Face-Work The Structure and Function of Situational Properties Supportive and Remedial Interchanges. 7. Social Life as Game Fun in Games Where the Action Is Strategic Interaction. Part III: The Confined Self: . 8. Status, Territory, and the Self Territories of the Self. 9. The Mortified Self On the Characteristics of Total Institutions The Moral Career of the Mental Patient. 10. The Stigmatized Self Stigma. 11. The Recalcitrant Self The Underlife of a Public Institution. Part IV: Frames and the Organization of Experience:. 12. Frame Analysis Frame Analysis. 13. Frame Analysis of Talk Felicitys Condition. 14. The Frame Analysis of Gender The Arrangement Between the Sexes Gender Displays. 15. Social Interaction and Social Structure. The Neglected Situation. The Interaction Order. Bibliography: Erving Goffmans Writings. Bibliography: Secondary Literature. Acknowledgements. Index.

Erving Goffman (1922-82) is considered to be among the greatest and most inventive of American sociologists. His works first appeared at a time when traditional, formal American sociology dominated the scene. They introduced fresh, new ideas and ways of thinking about the individual in the social world. Although Goffman is more often thought of as being grounded in symbolic interactionism, he was in fact the first to raise questions about the socially constructed self, the distinction between public identity versus the private self, the role of gender in society, and the study of public spaces. These themes remain of primary interest today, making Goffman one of the most influential thinkers in late twentieth-century social thought. For the first time in any collection, readers will have access to the complete development of Goffman's writing and thinking from his earliest, lesser-known works to his final masterpiece Felicity's Condition. Included in this collection are pieces from Goffman's classic works including Stigma, Asylums, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, and Forms of Talk.

"Now, thanks to a well-conceived and elegantly introduced selection of his writings by Charles Lemert and Ann Branaman, those familiar with Goffman can be stimulated once more." Charles Edgley, Oklahoma State University "As readers go, this one, like the genius it celebrates, is truly something special." Charles Edgley, Oklahoma State University

The Goffman Reader. Part I: The Production of Self. Part II: The Nature of Social Life. Part III: The Confined Self. Part IV: Frames and the Organization of Experience. Bibliography: Erving Goffmans Writings Bibliography: Secondary Literature.