Conversation Analysis

“This outstanding collection contains a number of papers which long ago achieved the status of 'mimeo classics.' They are just as important today as when they were written. This book tells us just how strong the 'first generation' of conversation analysts was and is. As a contribution to conversation analysis, it is inspiring, revelatory and indispensable.”

“This volume is a long-awaited treasure, gathering together for the first time a core group of unpublished papers which played a pioneering role in the early years in establishing Conversation Analysis as a distinct discipline. With their exuberant insistence on close analysis of masses of data from talk-in-interaction, these papers not only reveal the radical theoretical and methodological innovations which shaped and defined this new discipline, but they also provide 'case studies' of remarkable contemporary relevance in their own right.”

“This is a long-awaited book with previously unpublished CA manuscripts, each of which is destined to be a classic contribution to the field. For conversation analysts and more broadly anyone who is interested in the organization of talk and social interaction, this is a must-have book, a set of intriguing, compelling, and utterly useful investigations.”

“This volume is an outstanding contribution to conversation analysis. The importance of the book is not merely historical. [...] These studies remain just as relevant and significant as they were when they were written. Of course the history is here - and it is fascinating - but the book is much more than a collection of 'golden oldies'. These studies are no less contemporary for being 30 years old.”

“This book is a long-awaited collection of studies into the organization of talk in interaction. [...] this volume presents a unique collection of early influental studies in conversation analysis by leading scholars in the field. The editor's introduction clearly summarizes the chapters and explicates their relevance to researchers interested in social interaction. It also contains interesting personal commentary that conveys the pioneering spirit of the late 1960s and early 1970s, during which this line of research started to develop. Other features of the collection - the comprehensive glossary of the transcript symbols and the subject index - contribute to its value to students and researchers interested in conversation analysis and language use more generally. [...] the book is highly recommended to conversation analysts as well as to other scholars interested in the empirical investigation of language in interaction. The volume is not only a reference source for important works in the field, but also an inspiration for much further research.”

“[...] This volume presents a unique collection of early influential studies in conversation analysis by leading scholars in the field. [...] The book is highly recommended to conversation analysts as well as to other scholars interested in the empirical investigation of language in interaction. The volume is not only a reference source for important works in the field, but also an inspiration for much further research.”

“The papers in this collection were being passed around among those of us who wanted to learn more about Conversation Analysis in the early days, and they played a seminal part in the development of the field. Somehow or other they never were published — so they've continued to be passed around, and I still use the original mimeo copies of all these papers in the course I teach. I'm pleased to have them in published form at last, and to be able to recommend this book, to students and interested researchers alike, as essential reading.”