- Reviewed in:
Publishers Weekly,
page
.
- Review Date:
2011-04-18
- Reviewer:
Staff
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—his 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—his 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)
