Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings

Erving Goffman (1922–1982) was born in Manville, Alberta. He came to the United States in 1945, and in 1953 received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago. He was professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley until 1968, and thereafter was Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Goffman received both the MacIver Award and the In Medias Res Award. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.