Howard S. Becker, a sociologist who studied outsiders and the notion of deviance, died recently.
I was not aware of his work. His Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance is now on the long list of books I want to read.
He’s mentioned here because he’s a brilliant example of my bias that people who live interesting lives should write some kind of autobiography.
I went from knowing nothing about Becker to knowing something about an original thinker that I’d somehow missed because of Elsa Dixler’s fine obituary. Because Becker took the time to write about himself — explain himself in a way — I’m learning more.
Becker’s autobiography is a collection of essays. I’ve just read the first, “The New Yorker and Me.” Becker was a social scientist who started his autobiography by thinking about the influence that an example of good writing — as opposed to pedestrian writing — had on his life.
It was an inspired choice, I think.
Come on now. One short essay about one aspect of your life. Is that too much to ask?
• Sources: Elsa Dixler, “Howard S. Becker, Who Looked at Society With a Fresh Eye, Dies at 95”; The New York Times, Aug. 21, 2023. You can find it here:
Howard S. Becker, Here and There: A Collection of Writings; San Francisco: Wise Guy Press, N.D. You can find a nice edition here:
https://www.howardsbecker.com/images/books/here-and-there.pdf
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