Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore
"Few writers have had as wide an impact on contemporary thinking about the sociology of modern society, culture, and religion as Peter Berger. Here now from this distinguished scholar is anotherwonderfully engaging book, filled with candid personal detail, compelling humor, and characteristic sophistication in its understanding of the complex world in which we live." --Robert Wuthnow, department chair of Sociology at Princeton University"Peter Berger's memoir, a journey in ideas, isan inspired reading of our times. His many gifts as thinker and writer are on splendid display. He recounts how as a sociologically minded analyst of religion, he abandoned one of the central pieties of both European and American sociology, namely, secularization theory, and developed an enduring research agenda. His tireless work as an intellectual engaged in public issues has led to new and better understandings of the social forces of religion and economic development throughout the world. Peter Berger is that rare person whose commanding intellect is matched by his enormous generosity to generations of students and colleagues who recognize in him the true spirit of intellectual inquiry. Social scientists have a great deal to learn from him and his skillful 'art of mistrust' at the core of his approach to social reality. As he concludes, 'A morally sensitive social scientist will, I think, instinctively move toward middle positions (middle between radical change and stubborn preservation) on most issues.'" --Jonathan B. Imber, Wellesley College, and Editor-in-Chief,Society"Berger makes it clear that while he may be an authority on religion and modernity, he isn't himself solemn or pontifical...deeply engagingmemoir." --Washington Post