Becker Books

I was captivated by the writing of Dr. Becker and Spadafori. The book is intriguing, full of facts and details I never knew before. I learned by reading the book, but also felt I was entertained by the way it was written. A great read!

"Doing Things Together" is a marvelous, varied and stimulating set of papers from one of the most lucid and influential sociologists of recent decades. What is especially valuable here are sections dealing with overlapping concerns and applications between qualitative/field methods in the social sciences and the humanities. Specifically in DOING THINGS TOGETHER, one finds a set of articles on photography and sociology that is simply essential for anyone with a serious interest in understanding how visual images have been/can be used to document and interpret social life.

Also, in the essay "Telling About Society," Becker both anticipates and transcends what came to be an intense debate about "representational forms" in the social sciences--that is, constraints and rationales regarding how we seek to convey knowledge about social worlds. Some writers sought to escape the staid conventions of academic writing by exploring other (more exotic) forms, such as performance, fiction, film, and even poetry. These efforts occasioned a predictable squabble regarding how/whether such practices violate criteria of objectivity and validity that are enshrined in social research methodology. Becker's view is more inclusive and pragmatic: he argues that ANY AND EVERY account of social life is shaped by rhetorical conventions, discretionary editing, and audience expectations; thus, rather than condemn some forms of communication (and justify others) we should refine our understanding of generic processes of "telling about society."


Becker has done foundational work in education, work and occupations, deviance, the arts, and research methods. Yet, despite the ever-growing fragmentation/specialization in the social sciences, there is a unity and coherence to his entire body of work. And it's no minor matter that reading Howard Becker is pure pleasure--an incisive analyst who writes in clear, lively and elegant prose.

This is a comprehensive book on the subject of ENT/craniofacial surgery. Academic approach,well written, clear and detailed yet short and right to the point. Richly illustrated with a well appreciated, color-atlas in the end. Good prise, fits nicely in your pocket. Based on the disciplined germanic tradition, aiming to teach, rather then sell.

Prof. Gary S. Becker is the 1992 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economic Science. Readers will be convinced by his premise that people decide whether to commit a crime by a comparison of the benefit and costs. Readers will also be impressed by both his street smartness and rich knowledge. A must-read publication for policy-makers at different levels.

This is one of the best "coffee table" style art books featuring Schiele that I've seen. The layout is aesthetic and lots of good biographic information as well. Highly recommended.

por Gabriele Fahr-Becker Copyright ©1996 KÓNEMANN

El libro se dedica más a revisar la pintura y la escultura que la arquitectura, y se mete más en el tema del diseño de interiores que en revisar las obras de la época. Lo bueno es el gran tamaño del libro y un texto soberbio, ideal para entender el periodo.

In The Ernest Becker Reader, the modern dean of Becker scholars--Daniel Liechty--has assembled a wide variety of Becker's writings for those interested in his interdisciplinary approach to the humanities.

The reader contains writings ranging from Becker's psychosocial interpretations of mental health, his ideas about alienation, his `mature' writings about death denial as an interpretative organizing principle, and finally some of his intriguing short essays such as "Toward the Merger of Animal and Human Studies" and "The Spectrum of Loneliness." The last, in particular, is worth careful study. From this essay, we read: "...I think this level of awareness [Becker's idea of loneliness] might have something in it of a destiny for man, that at his highest point of personal liberation from the constraints of others and of culture, he comes face to face with the problem of the meaning of all of life. And, having come to this, that he can find no secure answer or hope, but only a yearning that has in it elements of both love and despair. Perhaps it is only at this point that one can speak of an authentic religious consciousness for our time..."

There are so many titillating ideas in all of Becker's work but his latter works, in particular, suggest the man may have come up with some revolutionary approaches to unifying the humanities had he lived just a few years past his death at age 49. Regarding his early passing, this volume contains Sam Keen's thoughtful interview with Becker just before the man's death. Here we have a frank discussion of his life's work in review and what it means in the face of his own imminent death (from cancer).

As always, Liechty has shown special care and consideration in selecting and editing Becker's works. Anyone interested in The Denial of Death, The Birth and Death of Meaning, or Escape from Evil will be happy to go deeper into Becker's thought processes and interpretive technique. There are many outstanding pointers left throughout this work begging for the attention of the next generation of scholars.

Review by Jonathan:

"In our dark time, where ethno-nationalism and militant fundamentalism have lead to hatred and genocide, we are all what Robert J. Lifton calls "survivors (p. 235, Lifton, R. J. "The Future of Immortality", Basic Books, Inc., Publisher, New York, NY, 1987.)." As "survivors" we cannot help but search for an explanation of the violence and destruction that have plagued our century. In his book "Escape from Evil", Ernest Becker proposes a very convincing, and often harrowing, explanation of this destruction. He writes,

"Since men must now hold for dear life onto the self-transcending meanings of the society in which they live, onto the immortality symbols which guarentee them indefinite duration of some kind, a new kind of instability and anxiety are created. And this anxiety is precisely what spills over into the affairs of men. In seeking to avoid evil, man is responsible for bringing more evil into the world than organisms could ever do merely by excercising their digestive tracts. It is man's ingenuity, rather than his animal nature, that has given his fellow creatures such a bitter earthly fate (pg. 5, Becker)."

From this point, Becker attempts to define how man's ingenuity, hopes, and desires have lead to an incredible amount of trouble in the world. Becker is at once cultural analysist, religious scholar, and social psychologist. "Escape from Evil" is an amazing inquiry, exploring the frightening needs of diverse social groups, looking into the deep inner fears of man, explaining Hitler and the origin of guilt, delving into the meaning of culture and the origins of inequality. These are not small subjects and they will challenge the ideas of any reader.

His writing is precise and he integrates important thinkers into his work with the greatest of ease. Ernest Becker is a must read, and "Escape from Evil" is a good place to start. It will deconstruct the mind and then rebuild it again, leaving the reader feeling both enlightened and confused."

Chapters Include:

* The structure of Simmel's Social Thought (Donald Levine)
* Form and Content in Simmel's Philsophy of Life (R. H. Weingartner)
* Formal Sociology (F.H. Tenbruck)
* Simmel's Image of Society
* Some Aspect of Simmel's Conception of the Individual (M. Lipman)
* Some Aspects of Simmel's Conception of the Individual (M. Lipman)
* Simmel's Sociology of Power: The Architecture of Politics (E.V. Walter)
* The Time and Thought of the Young Simmel (P. Honigsheim)
* A Note on Simmel's Anthropological Interests (P. Honigsheim)
* Simmel in German Sociology (H. Maus)
* Georg Simmel's Influence on Japanese Thought (M. Shimmei)
* On Simmel's 'Philosophy of Money' (Howard Becker)
* A Note from a Student of Simmel's (A. Salz)

Also includes translations of:
* Letter from Simmel to Marianne Weber
* The Adventure
* The Ruin
* The Handle
* The Aesthetic Significance of the Face
* On the Nature of Philosophy
* The Problem of Sociology
* How Is Society Possible?

Also includes a 'bibliography on writings on Georg Simmel' by Kurt Gassen

This is a compilation of Becker's most significant articles. Becker is one fo the most brilliant economists in the 20th century, taking the tools of economic analysis to other social sciences, especially sociology.

The articles have varied topics, including:
- Economic analysis of marriage
- Economic analysis of family size
- Economic justification for altruism
- Economic analysis of restaurant pricing patterns
- Economic analysis of discrimination
- Economic analysis of crime

It is a bit academic, since these are the original article he wrote for academic journals, but they are understandable since it is mostly concepts and not too many equations (though there are some). For the absolute beginner, this may be too advanced, so I would recommend The Economics of Life by Becker as well. If you have some knowledge of economics, I believe this would be a great choice. It shows how the rationality acquired in economics is applicable elsewhere, almost everywhere.