The book examines the interactional processes between individuals using ideas from George Herbert Mead, Kenneth Burke, and Mikhail Bakhtin. It focuses on how people communicate and interact, following a "grammar of motives" proposed by Burke. This grammar consists of six elements: act, agent, scene, agency, attitude, and purpose, which are present in all human conduct and relations. Robert Perinbanayagam applies this grammar to various social phenomena, such as talking, identity, religion, ritual, suicide, games, astrological consultations, and inequality.