Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore

Renowned sociologist Berger has spent his life observing, analyzing, and interpreting people and their practices (and judging by the delightful rhythm of his memoir, he'd likely be a great dinner guest as well). In this witty testament to his career and discipline, Berger recounts the experiences that made the journey so memorable%E2%80%94his years at the progressive New School in New York City, his attraction to the religious life (he considered becoming a Lutheran minister), and his prodigious output including novels and his seminal study, The Sociology of Knowledge, which attempted to reform sociological theory by identifying everything that passes for knowledge in a society. Casual and candid digressions on whatever catches his interest%E2%80%94his family, travels, "conviction without fanaticism," capitalism, human rights, the claustrophobia of academia, and the antismoking lobby pepper his reverie. Berger exemplifies the idea that the talented sociologist has a great deal in common with a good novelist. (June)