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Title: The Forest and the Trees: Sociology As Life, Practice, and Promise by Allan G. Johnson ISBN: 1-56639-564-X Publisher: Temple University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: Gushing Socialist Rubbish
Comment: This book is rubbish. Johnson is an interesting person and an interesting writer, but is very ignorant of economic history. He constantly makes an error common to left-leaning social scientists: he rationally assesses the reasons for non-Western cultural practices, but assumes that the equivalent practices in the West are the result of malice or ignorance, and that we should learn from our wiser cousins.

For example, he discusses how Indians have made cows sacred to their religion, and how this actually made sense even when they were starving - the cows play a key role in the cultivation of rice, and rice is much more important to the Indians than meat could be. So what looks like to an outsider as a silly practice - letting food go uneaten while people starves - is actually an example of using a religious prohibition to enforce sensible long-term thinking. But then Johnson turns to the West, and bemoans the ignorance and wickedness that causes us to eat our cows instead of their feed. He doesn't even bother to consider that American beef is not raised in the rice paddies - we don't grow much rice. Instead, we raise cattle in lands that would not support any food crops and actually end up expanding our food production rather than harming it.

This is unfortunately typical of the thinking throughout his work. I would not recommend this one to anyone who prefers critical thought to popular liberal cant.

Rating: 5
Summary: Perfect for an Intro Course
Comment: Johnson explains the sociological imagination and its importance in simple, easy to understand language. He references the major thinkers in sociology such as Mills, Marx, Mead, etc. while describing their ideas in more contemporary language. My students love reading this book prior to everything else in the course. It sets the framework for dealing with issues like gender inequality, definitions of selfhood, and the structure of institutions. Also, if you want students to read the original theories from writers like Derrida or Berger and Luckman, this is a good reference book for them if they're not sure they get the main idea.

Furthermore, Johnson's use of section headings helps students study for exams. For example, they know what the main ideas in each chapter are just by flipping through the pages. If they see a heading they can't define, then they can just re-read that section.

Because the whole book is his narration, I recommend a reader of some sort - either one you put together yourself or one from Pine Forge Press or something. I've found that students actually ENJOY applying these ideas to sociological articles.

Rating: 4
Summary: It's very interesting.
Comment: In the book, Dr. Johnson gives the readers a lot of examples in our daily life to make connection with the sociology. The book is not only the introduction book to the Sociology but also a reference book of it, of course, in the interesting way. It makes readers thinking in sociological way. For the people who are always curious about the world, you should read this book, 'cause the sociology will give you another answer that you've never seen before.

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