'David Silverman is to be thanked for leading the novice and the expert through the complex, heretofore underground corpus of Harvey Sacks's work. Finally, the social science community can study and learn from Sacks's pathbreaking studies of talk and conversational analysis. The social science community in the field of everyday life studies owes Silverman a great debt.' Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois 'Harvey Sacks, as they say, was an original. David Silverman provides a thoughtful, lucid account of his penetrating work. I urge anyone concerned with occurring speech to read this book. One's sense of how to interpret what is said will be changed. Even if one does not adopt the approach, one will have an essential landmark and reference point to inform what one does oneself.' Dell Hymes, University of Virginia 'David Silverman's book on Harvey Sacks...deals with conversation analysis and its relation to social sciences. It is designed to stimulate an interest in the potential of conversation analysis among those who are not too familiar with the area, and it is likely to succeed. ... For those who are tired of the rhetoric of big strategic issues or the latest managerial fad, here is an opportunity to redirect themselves towards making management research (or part of it) into a truly observational social science. Read Silverman's book on Sacks, think, and then read some more!' Sten Jönsson, Scandinavian Journal of Management 'This book can be used to complement primary materials in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on language use and conversation analysis. At the time of writing this review, I have not yet had a chance to use the book in my classes, but particularly at the undergraduate level, where my use of Sacks's lectures has met with varied reactions, I anticipate that Silverman's introduction to the "aesthetic" and "the legacy" may help overcome some barriers.' Language in Society