Transforming Talk: The Problem with Gossip in Late Medieval England. By Susan E. Phillips. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. Pp. x + 238; 6 illustrations. $45.

Participating in the current critical conversation on modes of gossip and their reciprocal impact upon medieval culture, Phillips's interesting, if tepid, book considers how gossip functioned as a productive cultural force that both sustained and challenged authorities in a range of social, literary, and religious contexts. Identifying the multifaceted role of gossip in connection with the creation, transmission, and reception of texts in late medieval England, this thematic study asserts that "transformation rather than transgression is the principle underlying" gossip as a "discursive phenomenon" (p. 5), and explores the role of "idle talk" in late medieval England beyond its narrowly construed status as "marginalized speech"—that is, beyond its recognizable function as "resistant speech" deployed by non-dominant social groups, women included—in favor of its broader influence in connection with orthodox literary and religious practices.