Academic life and politics are discussed in terms of certain principles of tribal behavior that are propounded, on the basis of personal observation, to account for many facets of the behavior of college faculty and administrators and of academic life in general. The discussion is comprised of the following chapters: "A Primer of Academic Politics"; "Stereotypics"; "Tribes: Les Purs et les Appliques" (tribes: the pure and the applied); "Rites de Passage (rites of passage): Coming of Age in Academe"; "The Rhythm of the Year: Solar Rituals"; "Styles and the Decay of Style;""Bureaucriticism: What's Wrong and Why It Isn't Likely To Be Fixed"; and "Confessio Amantis" confession of a lover). Three essays are appended: "A Political Primer for the Chair of English: Form and Content";"How Departments Commit Suicide"; and "Definition and/as Survival." (KM)