Erving Goffman is among the most prominent sociologists of the twentieth century. An unmatched observer of everyday human interaction, he has only grown in influence in the 45 years since his untimely 1980 death. We know surprisingly little about his life. Yves Winkin’s biography, translated from the French (*D’Erving á Goffman: Une œuvre performée?*, 2022, MkF éditions), is an elegantly written and deeply informed account of the sociologist’s life, by one of the world’s leading Goffman scholars.