'Exquisitely nuanced, acutely sensitive, and immensely fair reportage of a complex and at times bewildering new subdiscipline in biblical scholarship. Skillfully organizing a vast array of materials and theories, carefully weighing the pros and cons, Eve has managed to tell a gripping story and to make orality studies the fascinating subject that it is. More than that, throughout he conveys a sense of the paradigmatic significance of orality studies that may hold it within their power to make substantial contributions to much-needed new perspectives on the Synoptic tradition. . . Eve's assessment of positions taken and concepts proposed is sensible, sound, and almost always to the point. . . This is a book of programmatic significance, and one hopes for a wide readership not only among biblical scholars but among humanists and social scientists who have an interest in the issue of oral tradition.' -- Werner H. Kelber * Review of Biblical Literature *