Fine is a sociologist, and so you find out a lot here about the culture of debate. I found this right on target as both an old regional policy debater (similar to the Minnesota teams profiled in the book) and the parent of a national circuit policy debater (similar to the teams Fine's son participated in). Fine does a great job explaining the differences between these and the tension between them.
There's NO debate theory or how-to in this book -- but then those books don't really contain a consideration of the culture of debate, either.

I debated in the National Forensics League and the Urban Debate League for two years, and GIFTED TONGUES does a never-before-seen job in detailing the high school policy debate sub-culture. GIFTED TONGUES is the only book in the market that goes into the workings of several modern high school policy debate teams. Other books that claim to attempt to describe policy debate are out of date with the times.

GIFTED TONGUES might not have much insight into complex policy theory, but it's defintely worth your time if you're a novice HS debater OR a debate coach who wants advice to increase team membership, watch for pitfalls, and promote team morale.

One of the most comprehensive books on the phenomenon of role playing games as they emerged in the 80's, it explores the social psychological implications of playing these games, the personalities attracted to the games and the structure of the games themselves. I used it as a primary reference for my thesis 11 years ago and I believe it is still relevant now, even with the preponderance of computer role playing games. Although, the interactive, cooperative element of sharing fantasy around a tabletop may have faded...the same sharing takes place across continents through cyberspace.

If you're interested in rumors -- and you've definitely heard some of the rumors and legends recounted here -- you may well enjoy this thoughtful examination of why such tales spread, and how they morph according to the racial makeup of the people who repeat them. It's an academic book, but the style is quite accessible, if a bit stilted at times. The most important point made here is that while rumors about, say, the ownership of a fast-food chain or shadowy government programs, might be absurd in their specifics, they tell deeper truths about the way we (white and black) think about corporations and the government. Thoughtful and thought-provoking. Interesting stuff.

We've all heard the rumors. The rumors that Tommy Hilfiger is a racist. The rumors that Liz Claiborne is a Satinist. The rumors that KFC serves fried rats and that's why it can no longer legally be called Kentucky Fried Chicken. And most of us probably take these rumors with, at least, a grain of salt. Believability issues asside, from where do these rumor stem? What is the meaning behind them?

Those are the questions Fine and Turner attempt to answer, and their answers are quite informative. These rumors, when analyzed, tell us quite a bit about race relations. They allow people to communicate feelings that they otherwise would not feel comfortable communicating.

Drawing upon more than twenty years of study and analysis, by Gary Fine (Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University) and Patricia Turner (Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of African American and African Studies, University of California, Davis) Whispers On The Color Line: Rumor And Race In America is a superbly presented, collaborative treatise on narrative folklore prevelent in contemporary American society in the form of legends and stories informally circulated among the general public, and which have served to confuse and reinforce misinformation regarding a wide range of social issues. These are tales traveling mostly by word-of-mouth and focusing a diversity of subjects ranging from alleged governmental conspiracies, to possible food tampering, to the foibles of celebrities. An impressive, seminal, and scholarly work, Whispers On The Color Line addresses how these gossip ladened tales reflect attitudes that blacks and whites have about each other, and how such stories serve a pervasive social purpose of "expressing the inexpressible. Whispers On The Color Line is a ground breaking work and highly recommended for Contemporary Sociology, Social Anthropology, African-American Studies, and American Popular Culture Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

There are two reasons to read this book. First, Fine offers an in-depth analysis of the restaurant kitchen life by studying four restaurant kitchens in the St.Paul-Minneapolis area. In a society which is enamored with eating out, this can help us understand what really takes place behind closed doors. Fine has taken the time to understand the kitchen life through the study of the trials and tribulations of chefs, as well as enrolling in cooking classes at a vocational college to understand the training process that many of these individuals have experienced. Second, Fine offers an in-depth analysis of organizations through his study of these restaurants. While this is often lost on those not steeped in the social sciences, scholars interested in the study of organizations and/or the symbolic interaction approach will find it both entertaining and challenging to follow, interpret, and critique this perspective. Overall, this is a lively read that is hard to put down.