Full Product Details
Author: Gary Alan Fine (John Evans Professor of Sociology, John Evans Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University) ,
Bill Ellis (Professor of English and American Studies, Professor of English and American Studies, Penn State University, Hazleton)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.10cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 15.50cm
Weight: 0.431kg
ISBN: 9780199997442
ISBN 10: 0199997446
Pages: 270
Publication Date: 01 March 2013
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
<br> There is much that adds to our understanding of rumor in an era when access to information (and misinformation) has never been faster or more constant. --Publishers Weekly<br><br><p><br> A flat world allows bad ideas to travel faster. Using illustrations ranging from the history of the vampire to modern rumors about terrorism, Gary Alan Fine and Bill Ellis explain what happens when cultures collide and they make you a smarter citizen of an increasingly connected world. If you want to spot the next whopper that appears in your in-box (or springs from the mouth of a television commentator) this book is essential. --Chip Heath, author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die<br><p><br> In this readable, insightful book, Fine and Ellis offer a tight analysis of loose talk. They show how seemingly unrelated rumors--9-11 conspiracy theories, warnings about dangerous imported goods, and stories about stolen body parts--reveal a common theme: many people's discomfort regarding their growing experience with and exposure to what strikes them as foreign. Other analysts may cheer that the world is shrinking and getting flatter, but the stories we tell one another suggest that globalization remains pretty scary for lots of folks. --Joel Best, author of Stat-Spotting: A Field Guideto Identifying Dubious Data<br><p><br> This is a brilliant piece of cultural criticism. Fine and Ellis rigorously scrutinize the rampant paranoid rumors of our time, explaining how and why these fantasies form, what they mean, and how we should deal with them. Everyone who listens to talk radio or uses the Internet should read this book. --Jan Harold Brunvand, author of Encyclopedia of Urban Legends<br><p><br>
There is much that adds to our understanding of rumor in an era when access to information (and misinformation) has never been faster or more constant. Publishers Weekly
Author Information
Gary Alan Fine is John Evans Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. His book, Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America was a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Award. Bill Ellis is Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society and has served as President of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.
