Status Updates From La vita quotidiana come rap...

If all that Goffman writes is true and completely ordinary, then I am the one who is dead from the neck up. If every man and woman in my life is so transfixed, gazing into my eyes, only so that they may see their own reflection, then I'm sorry, I cannot play this game of infinite pretense. If I am to only see myself in what others think of me, then put the bullet in my gun and let me have my peace, you animals.

If there ever was a book to signify that death is the only appropriate response to life, this would be it. Erving Goffman's work is as dry as sawdust, and rejects the true presentation of the self as possible or anything remotely valuable. Layers of approximations upon simulacra - masks and performance art - disingenuous pursuits of social status. Re-define as many words as you want - you're dead from the neck up.