Reviews (1)

Shows just why they're called the Magnicent Mayans...
This is the best book I have ever come across on Mayan culture. It is a oversized coffee table volume, some 450 deluxe pages, each of which is covered with maps, illustrations and many, many photographs. Each period in Mayan development is covered in the chapters and the illustrations correspond neatly with the text. The text also does not veer off into the author's own opinions as these books frequently do. The first evidence of humans in the Mayan planes date to around ten thousand b.c., the book starts there and continues to the current Mayans (yes, their descendents alive in the world today, and that, too, is an interesting look). For anyone who thinks that civilization began in the Mediterranean, this book is clear evidence that it began on the other side of the world at the same time, if not earlier. It's a shame that the price and the fact that this book is out of print makes it less accessible to readers. For Mayan historians, this book is a must, but even someone with only a casual interest in the subject would find much of interest here. ... Read more

Book Description

Including the Hieroglyphic Transcript and English Translation of the Papyrus of Ani
Fascinating compendium of ancient Egyptian mythology, religious beliefs and magical practices.Includes spells, incantations, hymns, magical formulas and prayers.All explained by one of the most knowledgeable and respected Egyptologists of the early 20th century.B&W illustrations, photographs and hieroglyphics throughout.704 pages. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Cryers Beware!!!
I don't need to be anonymous, scared or ignorant of the "FACT" that Budge did not translate this wonderful papyrus for the general public to be eaten "WHOLE"; he is no different than Falkner and others who spent their personal time to translate what they thought about what it was saying for the minds of the above named individuals!!!

It is up to you to make a translation for yourself!!! Anybody's translation is just that--A TRANSLATION! Do you reviewer's NOT have the ability to learn the language and translate for you own personal archives??? I do and I have translated it for my own personal archives, however, it is not a permanent translation because the mind is ever far-reaching because it is not limited--unlike some of the reviewers comments that I've read here concerning this man. The same can and is said(by me atleast)about Falkner and others who attempt to make "MONEY" on a so-called "RIGHT, CORRECT and AUTHORIZED VERSION (TRANSLATION)" of the papyrus!!!

So, then, stop crying and be happy that at least Budge gave his work with "HIEROGLYPHS"--unlike other so-called "Authorities" on this African nation!!!

Sincerely yours,
Someone who thinks for HIMSELF!!!

Erroneous, at best
Mr. Budge's ineptitude is a well-known shame; his translations (dare I call them that?!?) are notoriously inaccurate and full of blunders. In fact, most of his texts were regarded even in his day as outdated and flawed. Please, there are too many other splendid translations (I recommend Dr. Faulkner Raymond's "The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day" or Normandi Ellis' "Awakening Osiris : The Egyptian Book of the Dead" - both are gorgeous) available to justify wasting one's money on such a compilation of solecisms as this.

[Disclaimer: no defamation of character is intended. That has already been accomplished by Mr. Budge himself. Anyone familiar with Budge's work is already aware of his incompetence.]

At least the price is right...
It's a given that serious egyptologists will roll their eyes at anything by Budge (there's a great moment at the beginning of the film "Stargate" where James Spader's character makes a quip about Budge's books).

However, if you are interested in 19th-century occultists (Blavatsky, Crowley, etc) then you probably should have this translation on your shelf next to a more modern one, because Budge is a primary source of their ideas about Egyptian gods and religion (which are interesting in their own right, though not historically accurate or scholarly). And again, at least Budge's stuff is widely and inexpensively available in Dover paperback editions....

"Antiquated, and not for the serious Egyptologist."
As a former student of Egyptology, I must inform all potential readers that Budge's translations are very poor, and that much better translations of the Papyrus of Ani now exist. Budge also tends to exaggerate and sensationalize. If this book was supposed to be a literal translation, this wouldn't be the case. The inferior translations are mostly due to the age of the book. Advances in the field of Egyptian grammar make this text obsolete.

A great book.
This book was wonderful. It was a bit hard to understand so I would recommend that a experianced student of the Ancient Egyptian culture buy it. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (10)

Wow!
It's unfortunate that Bateson died before postmodern thought really made it over the Atlantic since it appears he was quite concerned about many of the old views held by North American philosophers. The chapters concerning contextualization and language use echo what Foucalt, Lyotard and Derrida have been trying to get across except Bateson really managed to put these ideas into somewhat more accessible form.

Bateson was around for the beginnings of information theory and cybernetics and again, he was probably very disappointed in their state when he died. However, if one now looks at what people like Perlovsky and Chaitin have worked on one may begin to see that science is finding more and more problems with maintaining even the idea of objectivity.

In particular, if one looks at the work of Wilson ("Spikes, Decisions, and Actions") and Prigogine then the theory of objectivity within the physical world comes falling down. The only book close to giving a complete overview like Bateson managed is Jantsch's "Self-Organizing Universe", now out of print.

This is well worth reading and pondering. One can only hope more people begin to realize that we have a great opportunity for advancing ourselves (instead of rushing towards anhilation)if we can just change some of present system of thought.

Back in print at last!
It is unbelievable that this masterpiece has been out of print for so long. I have been looking fruitlessly for a copy for some years, having eventually had to return a loan copy. I am delighted that it is available again.

Organised as a collection of relatively short essays, this has a legitimate claim to be the outstanding book of the 20th century for anyone interested in mind, change, evolution, systems thinking, ecology, epistemology, organisations, therapy and more. Be warned - it can be very dense in places, but the effort is worth it. On the right day it's really stimulating - on a bad day, I'd read something easier!

'Form, Substance and Difference', 'Conscious Purpose versus Nature' and 'The Logical Categories of Learning and Communication' are absolutely central texts for anyone considering how we need to respond to the current world crisis. Other key papers include 'The cybernetics of "Self": A theory of alchoholism' and 'Social Planning and the Concept of Deutero Learning'. If you work in the field of Organisational Development you will probably be familiar with some of the content through the many writers who have built on Bateson's work. Fritjof Capra writes about him a great deal. The original is best though.

The fact that it is back in print is tremendous. How can something this good have been out of print for so long?

David Ballard

A true masterpiece!
Bateson's writings are profoundly layered with meaning that a brief glance will overlook. His prolific influence can be found in sundry fields of study, including psychiatry, communication theory, and marriage and family therapy to name a few.

This is the type of book (among few) that can be read over and over again while discovering new facets of understanding every time.

I highly recommend the metalogues.

Buzzwords mixed toghether in a pile of dross
Take all the buzzwords in fashion in psychology and philosophy: classification, genotype, flexibility, somatic, discrete, threshold, characteristics, analytic... mix everything together and you get this book.
In other words there's not an ounce of meaning in those 700 pages, it's all worthless. No case studies, no examples, long phrases full of self importance written by someone who thinks he's an authority in everything from zen to medecine to evolution theory to archeology. Not only does he prove he doesn't understand anything, you'll laugh yourself silly reading any paragraph of the book at random.

If you have to read this for an assignment, you'd better change major and give it to your worst enemy for toilet paper. That's how low I think of this. And to think that a tree was felled for this. Ha !

Very good intro. to Bateson
Reading "Steps" helped save me from the unremitting horrors of divorce court; I'd probably be on a death row somewheres if not for this & some peripherally associated material. I am very pleased to see that it's in print again.

From those meticulous metalogues to those essays on the Theory of Logical Types, Bateson can mesmerize, if you're prepared for it. "Steps" is to science & reason what Frost's "West Running Brook" is to poetry: an intense meditation, soliloquy & dialogue. It's worth your while. ... Read more

Book Description

Patterns of Prehistory is a comprehensive survey of world prehistory, from the origins of early hominids several million years ago to the evolution of the first great states and civilizations, focusing on the problem of formulating scientific explanations of the great cultural transformations of the past. In this fourth edition, Wenke has completely updated the text to incorporate recent archaeological discoveries and to address the insights and limitations of the new wave of "post-processual" or "cognitive" archaeology. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Comprehensive and Well-Written
I found myself listening to people whine and complain about the detail that Wenke goes into when discussing a topic. As compared to a textbook such as Fagan's 'People of The Earth', 'Patterns in Prehistory' certainly is rather long-winded in some regards. When cramming for a test, it might not be the best, yet I thouroughly enjoyed reading through it. It feels as though you are having a discussion with Mr. Wenke himself, not trudging through the required reading before a lecture. It's the kind of textbook you take with you to a comfortable chair and read leisurely, not one with which you come armed with highliter, expecting helpful 'test terms' and colorful pictures. I'm glad I was able to use this textbook as opposed to Fagan (which I've glanced over). I feel that I have come away with a much better understanding than those who failed to get past the small print and long chapters. And compared to other textbooks, it's a steal pricewise. Mr. Wenke is an excellent writer with an obvious passion for his field, I thank him for a solid read.

Good, but not great.
This is a suitable textbook for an introductory class on world prehistory. Comrehensive in scope, it goesd from australopithecus to the pre-contact in the New World. Wenke's writing is simple and straightforward, so even generalists with no archaeological background will be able to follow easily. The writing is even occasionally enlivened with Wenke's oft-present sardonic wit, although this falls flat a lot of the time. However, the sheer timespan covered by this text prevents it from going into any interesting detail, leaving the surface barely scratched. While easy to read, it's of less use, the further up one goes in the field of archaeology. It's also rather difficult to take notes from, and contains pages of daunting, unbroken texts. Some neat charts to break up the flow would help students. Perhaps because I have gone beyond this level now, I'm an arky snob, but I was less than impressed with this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Popol Vuh, the Quiché Mayan book of creation, is not only the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, it is also an extraordinary document of the human imagination. It begins with the deeds of Mayan gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the Mayan lords who founded the Quiché kingdom in the Guatemalan highlands. Originally written in Mayan hieroglyphs, it was transcribed into the Roman alphabet in the sixteenth century.

This new edition of Dennis Tedlock's unabridged, widely praised translation includes new notes and commentary, newly translated passages, newly deciphered hieroglyphs, and over forty new illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Ian Myles Slater on: Even More Definitive?
The "Popol Vuh," written in a Mayan language but a European script, is the most substantial surviving account of the Maya view of their own history, including that of their gods and divine ancestors, and has presented a host of problems for translators. The Tedlock translation of 1985 added new information to the work of many distinguished predecessors, and made substantial parts of the narrative clear (or at least much clearer).

The fact that a fairly extensively revised edition of this book was not only possible, but necessary, a decade after its first publication (in 1985) might have discouraged the publisher from calling the new version "Definitive." However, that seems to be the recent marketing buzzword. But how would a third edition be described? (Dennis Tedlock has recently -- 2003 -- returned to the writings of the post-Conquest Maya aristocrats who actually produced the existing "Popol Vuh," in "Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice," so it is clear that his work in the area continues.)

In fact, the work of Dennis and Barbara Tedlock with living Quiche Maya ritualists (priests / diviners / shamans), which, in the first edition, added so much to understanding this early post-Conquest text, was part of a larger expansion of Maya studies, including a more complete decipherment of ancient inscriptions, and greatly improved studies of Maya art. It is now possible to recognize events, and even characters, of the "Popol Vuh" in art centuries older, and their even older prototypes a millennium earlierl. Meso-American cultures have been re-analyzed, and lost details recovered, as part of a major, and very rapid, shift in understanding.

As an example: a large part of the story of "Popol Vuh" involves games played in ball-courts, in this world and the world of the dead; a major collection of papers on this theme, in Mayan and other cultures, "The Mesoamerican Ballgame," was based on a conference held the same year the first edition of Tedlock's translation appeared (Scarborough and Wilcox, 1991).

Another change was the adoption of a new official system for writing Mayan languages in the Roman alphabet, one devised, for the first time, by native speakers of the various languages. This adds considerably to etymological and grammatical precision, but enormously complicates recognizing words and names in older systems. (Anyone familiar with the juggling of Wade-Giles and Pinyin transliterations of Chinese will be only too familiar with the kind of adjustment process for ordinary readers.)

Tedlock has attempted, with considerable success, to incorporate this new information, and the new transcription system, into the old structure of the book. In the process, besides adding fascinating illustrations and fine-tuning the translation, he has restructured the introduction and notes. Some interesting personal observations are gone, or greatly reduced. References to older literature, often with Tedlock's reconsiderations, have generally been replaced by citations of more recent studies. Once debatable points have been given firm answers, and new questions have been raised. Some material which, at a first glance, I assumed to be missing, turned out, on close examination (with copies of both editions open in front of me, and the help of a lot of post-it flags), to have been broken up or consolidated in different contexts. In a few places, however, the strain shows, as a once-clear line of argument is disrupted. The sheer complication of the material explicated, in which social, cosmic / astronomical, and agricultural references are constantly intertwined, probably made this inevitable.

Archeological and epigraphic material has somewhat eclipsed in prominence the modern Maya contribution to this edition, although for fuller information it was always necessary to turn to Barbara Tedlock's "Time and the Highland Maya."

Among more recent publications of considerable value for understanding the mythological and astronomical material, Susan Milbrath's "Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars" (1999) is exhausting, but I found it particularly illuminating. A series of books of which the late Linda Schele was co-author or co-editor (The Blood of Kings," 1986; "The Forest of Kings," 1990; "Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path," 1993; and "The Code of Kings," 1999) are more popular in style, and very rewarding; unfortunately, like everything else in Mayan studies, they have dated very quickly, and the reader should always keep the date of publication in mind. Technical studies -- linguistic, epigraphic, archeological, art-historical -- are now abundant, but also harder for me to judge.

The Mayan Bible
This prize-winning translation of the Popol Vuh, the Mayan Bible, is the best one ever published. The translator not only knows the language but he is also a participant in the culture. His other books, "Days from a Dream Almanac" (poetry) and "Breath on the Mirror" (short stories)show his deeply poetic understanding of the culture. Now he has a new translation "Rabinal Achi," a Pre-Columbian Mayan play still performed today. These are mystical books that are also absolutely accurate.

Very Disappointing
Vastly inferior to the 1985 edition. Usually a book has more information in the 2nd edition. This has MUCH less. Huge sections of the background information have been removed. Does the author think this makes the book MORE comprehensible?

The Authority
It is difficult to imagine a better version of the "Popol Vuh" than this one. It is literary, it is scholarly, and it is well written - by a man who knows his subject. It provides incredible insight into the world of the ancient Maya and their modern descendents.

If you're interested in Maya studies and you haven't read this book yet, then you haven't even gotten started. As time goes on it becomes more and more apparent that this book is our guide to understanding Maya iconography, and we are incredibly lucky to have a book like this available to us at all. To have such a well-done translation is almost too much to ask. Small wonder that other writers on the Maya simply cite this book as "Tedlock" - it's considered a foregone conclusion that you know which book is meant.

Now if only somebody could come up with a good English version of the "Chilam Balam." Are there any takers out there?

a new world
If you are fascinated by the stories various peoples have told (and still tell) to explain who and why they are, this is essential reading. This Mayan genesis presents a new world, a new reality, peopled by heros, monkeys, and macaws, triumph and treachery. The translation will hold your attention, and the translator's notes on how the story happened to survive contribute to our understanding of this exotic and intriguing material. ... Read more

Book Description

White Americans, abetted by neo-conservative writers of all hues, generally believe that racial discrimination is a thing of the past and that any racial inequalities that undeniably persist--in wages, family income, access to housing or health care--can be attributed to African Americans' cultural and individual failures. If the experience of most black Americans says otherwise, an explanation has been sorely lacking--or obscured by the passions the issue provokes. At long last offering a cool, clear, and informed perspective on the subject, this book brings together a team of highly respected sociologists, political scientists, economists, criminologists, and legal scholars to scrutinize the logic and evidence behind the widely held belief in a color-blind society--and to provide an alternative explanation for continued racial inequality in the United States.

While not denying the economic advances of black Americans since the 1960s, Whitewashing Race draws on new and compelling research to demonstrate the persistence of racism and the effects of organized racial advantage across many institutions in American society--including the labor market, the welfare state, the criminal justice system, and schools and universities. Looking beyond the stalled debate over current antidiscrimination policies, the authors also put forth a fresh vision for achieving genuine racial equality of opportunity in a post-affirmative action world. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Race remains our most significant social issue
I read this book hoping to find some ideas about the status of race in post civil rights America. Although I found the book helpful and infomative, I do remain highly concerned that the issues the book addresses seem static. The authors do offer a lot of statistics and concise ideas to help understand the problems concerning race in America.

The attack on the racial realists and conservitive views on race really caught my attention. I find the arguements in this book far more convincing. I struggled to articulate how the conditions of American culture create a negative experience for blacks, but this book articulates the message clearly. I find myself reading and hearing arguments about race with a new understanding.

3.5 stars, against Stephen Thernstrom
Should one send political scientists to do a historian's job? That is the question one has to ask about this book compiled by a consortium of political scientists, in response to the "racial realism" of today's right-centrist consensus. This consensus, argued by such authors as Jim Sleeper, Tamara Jacoby, John McWhorter, The New Republic and the renowned historians of American immigration Stephen and Abigail Thernstrom, argue that racism is not really a problem in American life. To the extent that African-Americans are disadvantaged it is because of their own failings or, somewhat more tactfully, the failings of the black politicians and the guilty liberals they (overwhelmingly) support.

This book argues that this fundamentally optimistic view is wrong. They are right to say so and their book is very detailed and comprehensive (the Thernstroms in particular are repeatedly criticized). Still the book is not perfect. The book makes an error in numbering its footnotes in chapter five. It also incorrectly says that until recently there were no African-Americans elected from North Carolina since Reconstruction (one in fact was elected in 1898). The style is not very engaging, it consists mostly of summaries of papers in economics, political science, sociology and the other social sciences. The result is a certain dryness and abstract quality that could use more historical analysis (the treatment of unions is somewhat superficial). The discussion of racism is not the most thoughtful available (and little is said about Latinos). Nevertheless one should not ignore its points. "Racial realists" argue that racism is not a problem because only a handful of people would support racist attitudes in opinion polls. There are several problems with this argument. Aside from the fact that people do not necessarily volunteer their support of unpopular ideas, it turns the concept of racism and racist harm into a question of pure malice. If there is none (or if it somehow "rational") there is no racism. One might ask why showing discrimination should require showing malice, when other torts merely require showing negligence? Also it is a non-sequitur to argue that if whites are not malicious, blacks and/or liberals must have screwed up. Moreover, rephrasing the question can lead to rather different results: in a 1980 poll only 5% supported segregation, but only 40% supported a law stating that a homeowner could not refuse to sell because of race. The authors go on about how in the post-war period African-Americans were discriminated in social security legislation, GI bill benefits and housing segregation. We also relearn about the insufficiently notorious effects of urban renewal and automation.

What is best about the book are the statistics it provides showing consistent racial gaps, even when corrected for class, age, income or any other variable. For example 53% of mortgages in black Chicago middle-class neighbourhoods are from sub-prime lenders, whereas only 12% of mortgages in white neighbourhoods are. African-Americans are 25% less likely to get mammograpy screening, notwithstanding age or income, while a 1985 Massachusetts study showed that whites underwent significantly more corony surgery than blacks. 61% of basketball players were black in 1996-97, but 81.5 % of coaches were white; 52% of football players are black but in 2001 nearly 97% of head coaching positions were white. During the 1990s in Los Angeles, Latinos make up 41% of the population, but only 6% of the jurors. It is often said that spiralling illegitimacy is the key reason for persistent black poverty today, but the President's Council of Economic Advisers has noted that the poverty gap would have fallen by only a fifth had there been no changes in black family structure since 1967. Likewise the Thernstroms et al have argued that high black youth unemployment is the result of their demand for excessive wages. Yet studies have shown that their length of employment is not correlated with wage demands. The gap between black and white test scores has infuriated potential university students. But the correlation between scores and success is somewhat weaker for women and Asians. Another questionable use of data by "racial realists" is their concentration of Berkeley in the 1980s. There the white graduation rate within 6 years was 88% but only 59% for blacks. But in 28 other colleges the white average was 86% and the black average 75%. Might this not say more about the problems of particular universities than an inherent cultural failing of African-Americans?

We also learn about a third wave of criminology scholarship and we learn how only 26% of the gap between blacks and whites drug offences in Pennsylvania is the result of the higher arrest rate among blacks. Even after making every allowance Georgia blacks are five times more likely to get life sentences for drug offences than whites. We see at every stage of the arrest process, from scholars such as Madeline Wordes, George Bridges, and Michael Leiber, a clear bias against African-Americans. Although the prospect that somewhere, somehow affirmative action might hurt white men has haunted the conservative imagination, only 4% of 1990-94 sex/age discrimination suits were launched by white men, (yet they file three-quarters of age discrimination suits). Oddly enough, racial realists have blamed blacks for inadequate black representation. Supposedly they won't vote for whites. Yet in the past few decades only 0.5% of white majority districts elections have chosen a black representative. And whites have shown great reluctance or active hostility in voting for blacks in prominent elections in Chicago, Philadelphia and California. The authors conclude with sensible suggestions for reforms in education, stronger civil rights protection and an improved welfare state.

Informative & Thought-Provoking
It presents information in such a way that you are at the very least, forced to consider what they've presented. As a self-identified "African-American" who considers himself a conservative, I think this book does a great job of presenting the foundation of how the problem of race still exists and presents pragmatic ideas - however controversial - that are far better, in my view, than maintaining the status quo.

If those who on principle oppose these ideas (specifically, the conservatives this book spends a lot of time lambasting) would come out with substantive data to disprove what this book says, the race debate would become a lot clearer and would bring us closer to realizing a better America for all.

grab your highlighter
For anyone interested in how the politics of race are presented in today's world (affirmative action, prison sentencing, etc.), this book is a definite must-read. The authors analyze the conservative's overly-simplistic view of race as being based simply on whether a person exhibits overt prejudice while ignoring the larger implications of accumulated wealth and advantages enjoyed by whites from years of legal discrimination.

The authors poke holes in much of the misinformation coming from the conservative side of the aisle, and reveal just how sinister and permeating racial bias still is in America. Grab this book, a good cup of coffee, a high-lighter, and become updated on the dynamics of race in 2003 America. ... Read more

Book Description

Anthropology is a discipline very conscious of its history. Alan Barnard has written a clear, detailed overview of anthropological theory that brings out the historical contexts of the great debates, tracing the genealogies of theories and schools of thought. His book covers the precursors of anthropology; evolutionism in all its guises; diffusionism and culture area theories, functionalism and structural-functionalism; action-centered theories; processual and Marxist perspectives; the many faces of relativism, structuralism and poststructuralism; and recent interpretive and postmodernist viewpoints. This is a balanced and judicious survey, which also considers the problems involved in assessing anthropological theories. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great reference for the beginning student of anthropology
This book provides a clear, concise précis of the historical progression of social and cultural anthropological theories. There is a glossary of key terms at the end and also an extensive bibliography. For the curious, he provides an appendix of key theorists listed in the text as well. As noted in the preface, the book began as a series of lecture notes the author used for a Cambridge course in the history and theory of anthropology. The text reflects this but the chapters are all well developed and he guides you through each topic in a straightforward way.

In general, I found the book to be very useful in explaining concepts in layman's terms and without the pretentiousness in language that often plagues the writings of social scientists. I would certainly recommend this book for anyone interested in the anthropological theories of human culture as well as the beginning undergraduate student in cultural anthropology. For graduate or more advanced students interested in a more intensive study of this topic, I would probably look elsewhere.

I give this book only 4 stars instead of 5 because its style is rather perfunctory and fails to engage the reader into the subject since this was obviously not the author's intention.

A good cultural anthropology primer
This bood represents a clear and concise treatment of anthropological theory. Alan Barnard traces its history from inception to postmordernism. The different schools of thought are linked to the corresponding figures set against a particular socio-political space and time. The dinamic evolution of the discipline is well represented for it provides an interconnected mesh of causality. Throughout the book flow charts and schematic representations proved to be very helpful. Although primary sources can not be dealt adequately through interpretative works, Barnard's book is a good reference to have at hand. ... Read more

Book Description

There is growing interest in "therapeutic narratives" and the relation between narrative and healing. Cheryl Mattingly's ethnography of the practice of occupational therapy in a North American hospital investigates the complex interconnections between narrative and experience in clinical work. Viewing the world of disability as a socially constructed experience, it presents fascinatingly detailed case studies of clinical interactions between occupational therapists and patients, many of them severely injured and disabled, and illustrates the diverse ways in which an ordinary clinical interchange is transformed into a dramatic experience governed by a narrative plot. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including anthropological studies of narrative and ritual, literary theory, phenomenology and hermeneutics, this book develops a narrative theory of social action and experience. While most contemporary theories of narrative presume that narratives impose an artificial coherence upon lived experience, Mattingly argues for a revision of the classic mimetic position. If narrative offers a correspondence to lived experience, she contends, the dominant formal feature which connects the two is not narrative coherence but narrative drama. Moving and sophisticated, this book is an innovative contribution to the study of modern institutions and to anthropological theory. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The definitive work on human ethology
I might be slightly biased having studied under Eibl-Eibesfeldt personally, but this is the definitive work written on the subject written by the disciplines founder.
The protege of Konrad Lorenz, Eibl-Eibesfeldt's credentials as
a student of animal behavior are beyond reproach. True the book is a large tome but it is never dull and very approachable and well illustrated.. I recommend this book for students of many disciplines including biologists, anthropologists and psychologists. It offers a unique study of the human condition from a perspective most are unfamiliar with.
A great contribution to science by, in my opinion, one of the greatest minds of this century. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Review for "Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology"
In this book, "Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology", Graeber presents alternatives to the social systems we have presumed are our only paradigms. He points to successful anarchist organizations (and experiments) worldwide as a potential directions for Western societies to follow. What Graeber doesn't address is the complex role of humanity's "dark side" or the difficulties of integrating a technological society into a harmonious utopian anarchist whole. However, the book is commendable as it defends anarchy as an existing social alternative and charges the reader to consider how it could possibly be implemented. ... Read more

Book Description

An Introduction to Native North America provides a basic introduction to the Native Peoples of North America, including both Eskimos and Indians. Beginning with a discussion of the geography of North America, this excellent book delves into the history of research, basic prehistory, the European invasion, and the impact of Europeans on Native cultures. A final chapter covers contemporary Native Americans, including issues of religion, health, and politics. Much of the book is also written from the perspective of the ethnographic present, and the various cultures are described as they were at the specific times noted in the book. For anyone interested in anthropology and the history of North America and Native Peoples of North America. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Get the first edition
My rating is based on price alone. I had to buy this book for a class I am required to take. That said, the price seemed high for a broke student like me. So instead, I found out they still sell the first edition of this book (it took some searching mind you). Thing is, I found the first edition and it cost me about six bux total including shipping. So my first edition arrived, and I compared this to the second edition by going to the publisher's website of the second edition. They have a detailed table of contents, along with purportedly "major revisions" to the second edition. First off, the table of contents is nearly identical, except for a few minor pages (i.e. more pictures). Secondly, the second edition was published only three years after the first (come on, how much is going to change in our academic understanding of native north america in 3 years...this isn't biotechnology or comp sci). There's a reason why I think the first edition is not easily accessible (i.e. $$$).

Excellent Resource
Sutton's book is an excellent resource for both researchers and students of Native North America.Its coverage is complete, and the geographical regions delineated match those used in the Smithsonian's Handbook of NorthAmerican Indians, making this volume an excellent text.The crossreferencing with the Smithsonian's multivolume resource adds a great dealof utility for the use of Sutton's book as a classroom textbook or startingpoint for research.Sutton's treatment of Native American culture andhistory is excellent, not excluding contemporary Native American issues andthe roots of modern problems.The study of the past may bring us closer tofinding solutions to the problems we face today in intercultural relations. I highly reccommend this book to both instructors and researchers who dealwith Native American issues, culture, and history. ... Read more

Book Description

Preparing future American businessmen and women to understand and cope with the cultural dimension of their professions, this book demonstrates how the theory and insights of cultural anthropology can positively influence the conduct of international business.It explores (1) general concepts about culture that can be applied to any cross-cultural situation; (2) the nature of communication, both linguistic and nonverbal; (3) contrasting value systems; and (4) a wide variety of sources for locating culture-specific information. A conceptual approach provides readers with the necessary framework for understanding the cultural dimension of the international business arena.For individuals seeking to understand any cross cultural business encounter they have had in the past or might have in the future. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Lots of information - pretty boring approach
I bought this for my MBA program and found this book having good contents but the approach is not good.... I would have done the layout much differently to make it more interesting.....

I had to read this book and so read it..... not greatly impressed.

Cultural Dimensions of Ferraro
Throughout this book Ferraro takes on the idea of being a theoretical observer of different characteristics that the typical North Amercian has in comparison to the rest of the world. He takes these dfferences and applies them usefully to the area of International Buisness. The book goes through many different catagories including language, communication (verbal and non-verbal), precise time reckoning, and even culture shock. As a student, I found this book to be very insubstantial for a textbook, but I believe that it would be a wonderful starting point for buisness people of any age to read before doing any international buisness realtions. I wish I had read this book before I went and lived in Europe for 5 months, I think I would have been able to communicate a little more easily. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is written with a focus on broadening understanding of the range of cultural differences in sexual experiences-both around the world and within our own society.The authors integrate multicultural and multiethnic perspectives with high-interest features to engage all readers.For anyone wanting to learn more about human sexuality from a psychological, sociological, biological or health perspective. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Professional text with unprofessional commentary
Having majors in both the natural and social sciences, I can honestly say this is a very unprofessionally written text for just a single reason. There are constant, in-text, one-sided diatribes between the "first author" and the "third author." The third author is the ever-lovable Lois Fichner-Rathus who is married to the first author. The problem is that this woman takes numerous opportunities to slam males and masculinity throughout the text (without any similar asides from the male authors).

One section I remember in a not-so-fond manner is where the "third author" rants about how men can't help but be competitive, even with animals, on page 119. On page 23, there is a footnote that reads, "The first and second authors of this text [males] point out that it is not necessarily advantageous for females to have the ability to discriminate duds from winners. The third author confesses that she wishes she had had that capacity years ago."

The book also presents rather one sided views of topics like circumcision. In the book, they describe how, in uncircumcised males, "smegma--a cheeselike, foul-smelling secretion--may accumulate below the prepuce, causing the foreskin to adhere to the glans." (110) The text neglects the fact that smegma naturally occurs in females as well around the clitoral hood with improper hygiene. If they had mentioned this, would it be grounds for supporting clitoradectomy? They then cite data from a Wiswell study concerning penile cancer, and UTI's and declare that circumcision "lessens" these risks. The problem is that the data in that study was actually correlational because the circumcision (as an I.V.) was not controlled by the experimenter, rather, the observations were made ex-post facto where factors like poverty determined who was circumcised. This introduces the possibility that significant differences (monetary, hygiene, education, etc) existed between the subjects. Don't they know that correlation doesn't imply causation?

I liked one comment the third author made in the childbirth section on page 364. She describes how the obstetrician invited her husband to cut the umbilical cord and she "seized the scissors and cut the umbilical cord herself." She asks, 'who gave the obstetrician the right to determine who would cut the umbilical cord!' Heck, I'm amazed she let her husband have the privilege of sleeping with her to conceive the child in the first place. He's lucky she even bothered to take, er, append her husband's last name onto hers.

I don't mind a book with humor, but when the humor makes certain readers feel like they are under siege with every new page, then it no longer serves the usual purpose of conveying information.

Besides that, the book is ultra-thorough. It covers sexuality on biological, moral, psychological, and sociological levels. It is almost too thorough to make for engaging reading for someone interested in a single aspect of sexuality, but this also makes it adaptable for use in many fields of study.

Excellent text book for students in Human sexuality
Comprehensive book that discusses a great lot of relevant issues. It can be used especially for students in the human sexuality, marriage counseling etc. ... Read more

Book Description

Ecuador is the third-largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the western United States. As the source of this oil, the Ecuadorian Amazon has borne the far-reaching social and environmental consequences of a growing U.S. demand for petroleum and the dynamics of economic globalization it necessitates. Crude Chronicles traces the emergence during the 1990s of a highly organized indigenous movement and its struggles against a U.S. oil company and Ecuadorian neoliberal policies. Against the backdrop of mounting government attempts to privatize and liberalize the national economy, Suzana Sawyer shows how neoliberal reforms in Ecuador led to a crisis of governance, accountability, and representation that spurred one of twentieth-century Latin America’s strongest indigenous movements.

Through her rich ethnography of indigenous marches, demonstrations, occupations, and negotiations, Sawyer tracks the growing sophistication of indigenous politics as Indians subverted, re-deployed, and, at times, capitulated to the dictates and desires of a transnational neoliberal logic. At the same time, she follows the multiple maneuvers and discourses that the multinational corporation and the Ecuadorian state used to circumscribe and contain indigenous opposition. Ultimately, Sawyer reveals that indigenous struggles over land and oil operations in Ecuador were as much about reconfiguring national and transnational inequality—that is, rupturing the silence around racial injustice, exacting spaces of accountability, and rewriting narratives of national belonging—as they were about the material use and extraction of rain-forest resources. ... Read more

Book Description

Why do life-saving prescription drugs cost so much? Drug companies insist that prices reflect the millions they invest in research and development. In this gripping expose, Merrill Goozner contends that American taxpayers are in fact footing the bill twice: once by supporting government-funded research and again by paying astronomically high prices for prescription drugs. Goozner demonstrates that almost all the important new drugs of the past quarter-century actually originated from research at taxpayer-funded universities and at the National Institutes of Health. He reports that once the innovative work is over, the pharmaceutical industry often steps in to reap the profit.

Goozner shows how drug innovation is driven by dedicated scientists intent on finding cures for diseases, not by pharmaceutical firms whose bottom line often takes precedence over the advance of medicine. A university biochemist who spent twenty years searching for a single blood protein that later became the best-selling biotech drug in the world, a government employee who discovered the causes for dozens of crippling genetic disorders, and the Department of Energy-funded research that made the Human Genome Project possible--these engrossing accounts illustrate how medical breakthroughs actually take place.

The $800 Million Pill suggests ways that the government's role in testing new medicines could be expanded to eliminate the private sector waste driving up the cost of existing drugs. Pharmaceutical firms should be compelled to refocus their human and financial resources on true medical innovation, Goozner insists. This book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the politically charged topics of drug pricing, Medicare coverage, national health care, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in developing countries. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Definitely worth reading
I found this book fascinating, informative and thought-provoking. It examines how the current system for bringing new drugs to market works, what the short-comings of this system are, and how it could be improved to get more benefit from the money that tax-payers and users of health services (whether by paying directly for drugs or through insurance premiums)contribute.

Although this could have become a really dry exercise in economics or a political tirade agains drug companies, instead it contains a series of stories which track the development of some of the major "breakthrough" drugs in recent history. We are introduced to people who dedicated their lives to finding a cure for a single disease and read about the many set-backs and struggles that they had to go through to achieve this goal. The medical information that is explained in the course of these stories was, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of the book

Highly Recommended
There is so much BS coming out of the pharmaceutical industry these days that it's refreshing to read something that has the ring of truth to it. The author has done his homework.

Highly Recommended
This is a superbly researched and well written book explaining the scamming of America by Big Pharma. We have the only government in the world which allows this industry to price gouge the citizenry. Please read this book and tell your friends.

You can find out more about this issue at www.rxsanity.org ... Read more

Book Description

"The premier anthropologist in the country today."
–Evolutionary Anthropology on Richard Klein

"High above the western shore of Lake Naivasha, a blue pool on the parched floor of East Africa’s Great Rift Valley, sits a small rockshelter carved into the Mau Escarpment. Maasai pastoralists who once occupied this region in central Kenya called the place Enkapune Ya Muto, or ‘Twilight Cave.’ People have long sought shelter there. The cave’s sediments record important cultural changes during the past few thousand years, including the first local experiments with agriculture and with sheep and goat domestication. Buried more than three meters deep in the sand, silt, and loam at Enkapune Ya Muto, however, lie the traces of an earlier and even more significant event in human prehistory. Tens of thousands of pieces of obsidian, a jet-black volcanic glass, were long ago fashioned into finger-length knives with scalpel-sharp edges, thumbnail-sized scrapers, and other stone tools, made on the spot at an ancient workshop. But what most impressed archeologist Stanley Ambrose were nearly six hundred fragments of ostrich eggshell, including thirteen that had been fashioned into disk-shaped beads about a quarter-inch in diameter. Forty thousand years ago, a person or persons crouched near the mouth of Enkapune Ya Muto to drill holes through angular fragments of ostrich eggshell and to grind the edges of each piece until only a delicate ring remained. Many shell fragments snapped in half under pressure from the stone drill or from the edge-grinding that followed. The craftspeople discarded each broken piece and began again with a fresh fragment of shell.

"Ambrose believes that these ancient beads played a key role in the survival strategy of the craftspeople and their families. In the Kalahari Desert of Botswana, !Kung San hunter-gatherers still practice a system of gift exchange known as hxaro. Certain items, such as food, are readily shared among the !Kung but never exchanged as gifts. The most appropriate gifts for all occasions just happen to be strands of ostrich eggshell beads. The generic word for gift is synonymous with the !Kung word for sewn beadwork. Although the nomadic !Kung carry the barest minimum of personal possessions, they invest considerable time and energy in creating eggshell beads.

"No one knows whether the toolmakers at Enkapune Ya Muto or the other ancient African sites intended their ostrich eggshell beads to be social gifts. But if these beads were invested with symbolic meaning similar to that of beads among the !Kung, then Twilight Cave may record the dawning of modern human behavior."
–From The Dawn of Human Culture ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Synthesis and Theory
The Dawn of Human Culture is an excellent summary and synthesis of archeological evidence concerning the anatomical and behavioral development of that last 5 million years that led to the emergence of fully modern homo sapiens. The authors explain the theory of punctuated equilibrium and very convincingly describe the evidence and scientific analysis behind the identification of extraordinary punctuated events such as those that lead to bi-pedalism and tool making.

The strength of the book lies in its logical presentation, clarity of writing, explanation of key issues such as dating techniques and limitations, and behavioral inferences drawn from archaeological remains. Competing theories and evidence are given and, where rebutted, done so in a scholarly and positive way.

In addition to the excellent summation of archaeological and anthropological knowledge and theory to date, the authors postulate their theory, without avoiding discussion of its limitations, that modern human behavior, dated to have begun 50,000 years ago was due to a "genetic mutation that promoted the fully modern human brain". More could have been written in the final chapter to argue the theory; this is not a criticism, however, but rather a request for more from these two very accomplished authors.

I can highly recommend this book as a comprehensive and balanced summary and synthesis on the subject of human evolution.

The Dawn of Human Culture
The Dawn of Human Culture written by Richard G. Klein and Blake Edgar is a upon which human evolution relates.

This book says with reasonable certainty that humans, defined by their habit of walking bipedally, evolved about 6 million years ago from an African ape; that multiple bipedal species appeared between 6 million and 2.5 million years ago; that all these early biped remained remarkably ape-like in brain size and upper body form; that some human species, perhaps the first whose brain exceeded that of an ape in size, invented stone flaking about 2.5 million years ago; that the earliest stone tools makers used their tools to add animal flesh and marrow to a mainly vegetarian diet.

Recent advances in our understanding of human evolution owe as much to methods of dating as they do to new fossil and archeological discoveries. This book describes the principal dating methods in the text, since the descriptions are scattered, fossils and artifacts provide the hard evidence for human evolution and culture.

This book explores the evolution of man into the being and culture that exists today from the fossil record. From the earliest beginings in Africa to the rest of the world man has made his impression felt throughout the world. There is comparative anatomy throughout the book as it is easily readable and the prose well-wriiten and understandable.

For a book on early human existance, this is a good book to start with as it all of the known species variations of man are in this book. Brain case volume and bone structures are very much in evidence while reading this book are explored.

A jerky epic
The sweep of human evolution has received much attention in recent years. This book is among the more sweeping efforts aspiring to reveal who we are. Fossils of our ancestors are being revealed at an increasing rate. From these scattered bones and teeth [and a few artefacts], a more complete picture of our evolutionary path is emerging. The evidence from the bones is being complemented by genetic studies filling in the details of human migration over the planet. If nothing else has been derived from these multi-disciplinary studies, our ancient origins in Africa is now undisputed, say the authors.

There's another element almost hidden away by the growing amount of evidence. What kind of path did hominid species follow in becoming human? That question forms the basis of Klein and Edgar's "bold new theory" clamouring from the cover. They contend the fossil and genetic evidence displays human evolution as a series of long, slack stretches of development, both physical and mental, interrupted by bursts of innovation in body and brain. Each burst, building on what had gone on before, seems to them a form of the "great leap forward". They contend the evidence in bones, especially skulls, indicates spurts of brain encephalisation. This means not only larger brains, but more elaborate ones - capable of complex thoughts, foresight, enhanced communication skills and symbolism - in short, culture. Although the bones and skulls are geographically scattered and the art and artefacts few and far between, the authors contend they have drawn the path of human development clearly and conclusively. Human evolution followed a path of long stretches of equilibrium, punctuated by episodes of rapid change.

"Punctuated"? "Equilibrium"? The authors concede early in the book that this isn't an original idea with them. It's derived from the attention-seeking proposal of Stephen Gould and Niles Eldredge a generation ago. "Punk eek" keeps struggling for survival and the road of human evolution is its sole remaining support. There's a delicious irony in this, given Steve Gould's ambivalent attitude toward human evolution. Ostrich eggshell beads are intriguing, but far less important than how we developed hunting strategies. Rock tools and stick weapons are features we share with our chimpanzee relatives - a notion "punk eekers find distasteful.

Klein's bringing Blake Edgar's writing talents to this book was inspired thinking. What Edgar granted to Don Johanson in clarity he has duplicated here. Combining his prose skills with Klein's wealth of illustrative material and wide knowledge of the discipline has produced a cogent, readable text. Unfortunately, Edgar's campaign strategy of inserting Gould into the scenario is less compelling. The theory is thus neither "bold" nor "new". How significant it is in describing the human condition awaits more evidence than is currently available. Given that so much of it rests on brain development, real data is unlikely to be forthcoming. However, it's worth waiting for. Pass the time delving into the wealth of information in this book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Very plausible synthesis
Klein tells the six million-year-old story of human evolution from a "splitter's" perspective. Accordingly, H. habilis is distinguished from rudolphensis, and the Asian H. erectus from the African ergaster and the European antecessor. Neandertals are accorded some humanity, but are treated as a separate species. They evidently lacked the inferred genetic mutation for modern speech that supposedly arose some 50 kya. While Klein avoids any mention of the earlier evidence for speech, and argues away inconvenient dates, he offers a coherent synthesis of all the recent data.

Great Intro to Anthro but Misleading Cover
I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book four or three stars. Richard Klein is,indeed, one of the top bioanthropologists in the U.S. But the cover and flap's trumpeting of a purported new theory inside, as one other reviewer pointed out, were hardly contained in the text. Very little space is dedicated to the discussion of why they thought there was a dawn of human culture (basically, art) around 50 thousand years ago. There's some text on it in the beginning (including a discussion of Gould's puncuated equilibrium theory) and a brief revisit towards the end, but, all in all, this is a rehashing of the current state of bioanthropology, aka, human evolution. There is very little here that's new to anyone who's taken anything above Anthro. 100/Intro. to Human Ev.
Therein lies the reason many have given the book five stars and I was tempted to give it four. Klein and Edgar provide and excellent overview of the finds, including very recent discoveries such as O. tungensis in E. Africa in 2001 and K. platyops (don't have the spelling in front of me) by Leakey in 2001. One of the best aspects of this book are its excellent drawings and diagrams. The maps are great.
The most interesting aspects for experts and students of antho. will be Klein's opinions on cannibalism and whether neandertals created art. I can't agree with his conclusion on the latter. While he refutes the evidence of ochre on remains as the possible presence of rodents burrowing in the soil, I don't recall any discussion of the largely accepted belief that Neandertals had the ability for abstract thought, as evidenced by the use of ibex horns in the burial of a Neandertal boy at Teshik Tash in Uzbekistan. They fail to mention him.
All in all, a great introduction for the general audience. Too bad their book was published before the HUGE Chad find in 2002. I would recommend Klein's textbook The Human Career for more technical descriptions. The bibliography listing various journal articles is a great place for further reading. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Down the drain
Edward T. Hall's The Hidden Dimension, perhaps the scariest book (even scarier than 1984) I ever read. Scary, because it isn't fiction, but a rather elaborate essay on anthropology and proxemic behaviour. If Hall's right, things as disregard for other cultures, mindless urban development and demographic growth have generated a behavioral sink in which stress, crime, intolerance and physical and psychic disease grow everyday, and to make things worse, our governments take measures that only accelerate the process. We are all going down the drain.

Put Ed Hall's Insights to Work in Your World
Ed Hall is one of the preeminent cultural anthropologists of all times. His work, studies, and insights into the rich modern anthropology reflect a life long passion he developed as a teenager in the 1930's Southwest U.S. assigned to work on white-managed WPA crews alongside Navajo workers whose cultural bearings and world views were vastly different than his own people's views.

Hidden Dimensions examines the cultural contexts of space, how peoples define their personal and community spaces as part of their cultural norms.

How far apart or close do people of a similar culture feel comfortable standing or sitting next to one another and in what circumstances? When do you feel someone is "in your space"? This personal comfort zone differs culture to culture. Yours may be different than mine. Hall develops these "proxemics" (proximity) in this book by observing and visiting with peoples from around the globe, and shares the wisdom gained with you so that you might expand your own world views and spatial orientations when mixing with foreign cultures to your own.

Well worth the sheckles to add this great work to your life's library. Collect all of Hall's works.

Best of the Best
A fabulous writing on how human beings react to and make use of spacial distance from a physical and psychological viewpoint, i.e.. the study of proxemics. The type of book that should be reissued without fail by the publisher, though it is old, since it is a classic in its field. Actual numerical distances and their effect/use/experience by humans are explained as well as much about eyesight and its abilities. Hall also explains how different Euro cultures (German, French, and others) plus how Americans use space differently. I'm seldom this positive about any book but must give this one a highest rating.

Lesser Magic Primer
An excellent work on Lesser Magic, for those able to extract the principles. ... Read more