<p>Decades after his death, the figure of Erving Goffman (1922-82) continues to fascinate. Perhaps the best-known sociologist of the second half of the twentieth century, Goffman was an unquestionably significant thinker whose reputation extended well beyond his parent discipline.<br> <br> A host of concepts irrevocably linked to Goffman's name - such as 'presentation of self', 'total institutions', 'stigma', 'impression management' and 'passing' - are now staples in a wide range of academic discourses and are slipping into common usage. Goffman's writings uncover a previously unnoticed pattern in the minutiae of everyday interaction. Readers are often shocked when they recognize themselves in his shrewd analyses of errors and common predicaments.</p> <p>This superb study, written by one of the most respected sociologists at work today, is an indispensible guide to the sociology of Erving Goffman. This book offers a compact guide to Goffman’s key ideas and the debates they have engendered, and incorporates understandings generated by recent Goffman scholarship.</p>