"There are innumerable sources of pleasure in life: a bite of cake in the late afternoon, the walk in the warm springtime air after a long winter, a listen to the opening chords of your favorite song. But each of these pleasures is transformed by the presence of others. In this new book, veteran sociologist Gary Alan Fine takes up pleasure that depends on sociality and the ways sociality drives pleasure into the wider world. He considers fun, friendship, humor, play, games, leisure, and sexuality alongside the conditions under which they are organized. Fine focuses on the impact of group relations as the platform for satisfaction, emphasizing the power of communities of practice. While pleasures may be performed while alone, the pleasure that occurs in social spaces performs a unique function in our personal and social lives. These social pleasures are experienced under the guidance of others, a form of affective socialization. But they also allow important boundary work to take place, helping us understand ourselves as part of a group.

Joking around offers a prime example: the jokes told among coworkers differ dramatically from those shared with a romantic partner; jokes among friends often dont land with ones family. What is pleasurably transgressive in one context might seem inappropriate, cruel, or just plain nonsensical in another, and these shades of difference serve to solidify the bonds of the group. Fine explores a number of other types of pleasure, including the ways that pleasure can come at the expense of others, which Fine calls dark pleasure. Ultimately, Fine gives us the conceptual basis for a sociology of pleasure: a joyous view of the world that, at times, inspires us, through expectations of interaction, shared cultures, and routine practices that make life worth living in tiny publics"-- Provided by publisher.