Why do people routinely risk their health by smoking cigarettes? Why do some females make walking a struggle by donning high heels? In a fully updated edition, the author attempts to answer such questions by explaining the discipline that endeavors to understand the human meaning quest: semiotics.

Marcel Danesi is Director of the Program in Semiotics and Communication Theory and Professor of Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is the author of many books, including Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things; X-Rated! The Power of Mythic Symbolism in Popular Culture; and The History of the Kiss: The Birth of Popular Culture. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998, founded a research center (Center for Communication and Information Sciences), and is the Editor in Chief of Semiotica. Danesi's work has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star, and Psychology Today, among other print publications, and he has been a guest on broadcast outlets such as National Public Radio.

Preface Cigarettes and High Heels: What Do They Really Mean? What Does It Mean? How Humans Represent the World Make-Up: Why Do We Put It On? Tell Me About Yourself: What Is Language? Kisses Sweeter Than Wine: Metaphor and the Making of Meaning Now, Tell Me About Yourself: Why Do We Tell Stories? At Arm's Length: The Meanings of Spaces What a Beautiful Ring: The Meanings of Clothes and Objects Art Is Indistinguishable From Life: The Artistic Nature of the Human Species There's More to Perfume Than Just Smell: Advertising, Pop Culture, and Television Notes