Gary Alan Fine is professor of sociology at Northwestern University. His many books include Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept, and Controversial and With the Boys: Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

"Fine's analysis of the intricacies of role-playing in context carries an authority and acuteness denied to mere observers.... His inside knowledge enables him to make fine distinctions in the strategies and functions of these games that are lost to most outside analysts." - Bill Ellis, Journal of American Folklore "As an ethnography of fantasy role-playing games and gamers, Fine's book respects his subjects and honors the complexity of their enterprise. And as an analysis of the overlap between that world and other more familiar worlds, Fine's book both honors and clarifies the still incredible skills we nevertheless take so much for granted." - Prue Rains, Sociology and Social Research

Gary Alan Fine is professor of sociology at Northwestern University. His many books include Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept, and Controversial and With the Boys: Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

"Fine's analysis of the intricacies of role-playing in context carries an authority and acuteness denied to mere observers.... His inside knowledge enables him to make fine distinctions in the strategies and functions of these games that are lost to most outside analysts." - Bill Ellis, Journal of American Folklore "As an ethnography of fantasy role-playing games and gamers, Fine's book respects his subjects and honors the complexity of their enterprise. And as an analysis of the overlap between that world and other more familiar worlds, Fine's book both honors and clarifies the still incredible skills we nevertheless take so much for granted." - Prue Rains, Sociology and Social Research