First published in 1988, this book focuses on diversity and discourse, and collects contemporaneous research across a wide range of topics including:

description, polemic, narrative analysis, DJ talk, philosophical history, conversation, children’s books and nuclear deterrence.

The essays demonstrate analyses of discourse in the service of stylistic inquiry, exploring relationships of text and context. This reflects the overall argument that discourse analyses aiming to represent diversity of social context will necessarily approach the task selectively, since all dimensions are of potential relevance to any and every communicative manifestation. Some of contextual dimensions that are addressed include: interpersonal, socio-structural, modal, ideological, and pragmatic.