As ubiquitous and influential as gossip is, it has been surprisingly downplayed as a topic of philosophical, psychological, and sociological investigation and debate. In this book, twenty-two scholars from several disciplines turn a professional eye to that much-maligned yet heavily practiced form of conversation. They consider gossip and humor, logic, morality, privacy, legal and medical issues, feminism, history, rumor, and reputation. Provocative and varied, their essays suggest that gossip has unexpected virtues and pave the way for future debate on this omnipresent pastime.