The fable of the Emperor's New Clothes is a classic example of a conspiracy of silence, a situation where everyone refuses to acknowledge an obvious truth. But the denial of social realities--whether incest, alcoholism, corruption, or even genocide--is no fairy tale. In The Elephant in the Room, Eviatar Zerubavel sheds new light on the social and political underpinnings of silence and denial--the keeping of "open secrets." The author shows that conspiracies of silence exist at every level of society, ranging from small groups to large corporations, from personal friendships to politics. Drawing on examples from newspapers and comedy shows to novels, children's stories, and film, the book travels back and forth across different levels of social life, and from everyday moments to large-scale historical events. At its core, The Elephant in the Room helps us understand why we ignore truths that are known to all of us. Zerubavel shows how such conspiracies evolve, illuminating the social pressures that cause people to deny what is right before their eyes. We see how each conspirator's denial is symbiotically complemented by the others', and we learn that silence is usually more intense when there are more people conspiring--and especially when there are significant power differences among them. He concludes by showing that the longer we ignore "elephants," the larger they loom in our minds, as each avoidance triggers an even greater spiral of denial. Social life in families, organizations, communities and even entire nations is full of situations where the emperor has no clothes. The Elephant in the Room illuminates the dynamics behind these situations, revealing why we ignore obvious and alarming realities.

Zerubavel, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University and author of The Seven-Day Circle and other books maneuvers across politics, popular culture and academic literature to uncover sundry forms of silence and connect these within the greater social universe. He demonstrates that silence is a common subject within music and film, and references abound from Paul Simon to John Lennon, Billy Rose's Dumbo to The Secret Live of Dentists. Shifting his focus to politics, Zerubavel analyzes Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, the Catholic Church's child abuse scandal and Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. However, while not lacking in captivating anecdotes or titillatingly obscure references, the book fails to offer any previously unknown conclusions about silence. Instead, the reader is left with familiar statements: silence can be deadly; silence in individuals breeds silence in the entire group; people tend to be silent about silence. As is obvious from the 60 pages of references (for 85 pages of text), Zerubavel is well-read and marvelously conversant on the subject. Readers looking for groundbreaking scholarship will be disappointed, though the book excels as a socio-historical account of silence's machinations.

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