Imagine a conversation between Émile Durkheim, Tupac Shakur, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Alexander Riley is both an interlocutor and amanuensis, articulating and documenting the cognitive pyrotechnics that might have occurred. Riley's essays on the banality of transgression and the adulteration of moral culture reminds us that there is no longer synonymy between the profane and the impure.

Ellis Cashmore, author of Tyson: Nurture of the Beast

An incisive, timely and engaging contribution to the sociology of culture. Riley's argument and vision are so compelling that they are sure to put the cultural turn into a much needed spin of reassessment.

Chris Rojek, Brunel University, West London

Play is serious business, whether in sports, death metal, gangsta rap, or video games. Riley's fearless inventory eloquently and passionately underscores the notion that 'meaning makers make it,' and that sociology itself can be a spiritual practice.

Donna Gaines, author of Teenage Wasteland and A Misfit's Manifesto

Alexander Riley provides us with a strong case for an analysis of culture in terms of meaning. The variety of the cases he has chosen (from rap to video games) makes it possible to envision the usefulness of such an approach. This book not only takes culture seriously, it also takes play seriously. I can only applaud such a position, which is original even in its very return to earlier theories. A good sociology of play has long been overdue; this book is a beautiful example of the kind of work that can be done.

Sarah Daynes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

An incisive, timely and engaging contribution to the sociology of culture. Riley's argument and vision are so compelling that they are sure to put the cultural turn into a much needed spin of reassessment

Chris Rojek, Brunel University, West London