Book Description

This powerful memoir of an American who was adopted by a shaman and allowed to study the secrets of a Tzutujil Mayan village in deepest Guatemala "offers readers a privileged and rare glimpse into [the village's] complex and spiritually rich life." (Rocky Mountain News)

Twenty-five years ago, a young musician and painter named Mart'n Prechtel wandered through the brilliant landscapes of Mexico and Guatemala. Arriving at Santiago Atitlan, a Tzutujil Mayan village on the breathtaking shores of Lake Atitlan, Prechtel met Nicolas Chiviliu Tacaxoy--perhaps the most famous shaman in Tzutujil history--who believed Prechtel was the new student he had asked the gods to provide. For the next thirteen years, Prechtel studied the ancient Tzutujil culture and became a village chief and a famous shaman in his own right.

In Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, Prechtel brings to vivid life the sights, sounds, scents, and colors of Santiago Atitlan: its magical personalities, its beauty, its material poverty and spiritual richness, its eight-hundred-year-old rituals juxtaposed with quintessential small-town gossip. The story of his education is a tale filled with enchantment, danger, passion, and hope.

"The picture [Prechtel] creates of idyllic Indian life is so beautifully drawn that his delight in their culture becomes contagious, as does his grief when civil war creates havoc in their village." --Publishers Weekly ... Read more

Reviews (11)

one of the best books I've ever read
Anyone with an interest in indigenous people as well as a lust for fascinating accounts of wayward travellers will find this impossible to put down. Humorous, yet poetic at times, the writer has a gift to share, and he does so with incredible dexterity. The insights into how the Maya lived within nature, their social heirarchy, inside jokes, love of life, and slow victimization by 20th (and 21st) century power-mongers make this account a valuable resource for all human beings.

Interestingly, the Mayan calendar, put forth centuries ago, ends within this decade, fodder for Armegeddon-theorists in the last half century. Prechtel's book helps to explain how this happened before his eyes and the role he has come to play in keeping the soul of the Maya alive.

This should be a must-read for anthropologists, linguists, spiritualists, environmentalists, economists, missionaries of all faiths, travellers, and policy makers. And yet with such a broad base, it remains a fascinating narrative as well. This was unquestionably one of the best books I have ever read.

wonderful
This is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. I've always been interested in the Mayas and read lots of books on them, but I must say that I never felt this level of awareness before. Not only is this great ethnology at it's best, but its a very intimate sharing of the world view of these people through the magic-realism of Martin Prechtel. He is a wonderful storyteller who can impart a vision without telling all - there are no shaman secrets revealed here. One of those rare books where the prose matches the content - both thoroughly enjoyable!

Fiction at its worst
The author would have better served his readership by admitting the entire tale is a work is fiction. Poorly researched fiction at that. Riddled with factual, geographic and cultural inaccuracies, he does a great disservice to native people he claims to respect and serve. I have been a student of the Maya for almost thirty years and spent much of that time in the areas the author claims to have inhabited. A casual tourist to the markets in the area could come away with a more accurate description. Many of the incidents he describes would be abhorent to the local Maya population. While the final chapter describing the genocide of the last 25 years is fact,the rituals and social structures he describes are nonexistant. The H'men would certainly not include a drunken, lazy, fat gringo in any meaningful discussion of closely held lineage practices much less "initiate" him and allow him to marry into a local clan only to abandon his "family". This is yet another example of cultural prostitution to sell a book. The Maya of the area have suffered much at the hands of latino politicians, protestant missionaries, and the hordes of international tourists. The author only adds to the indignities with his misguided fictional tale. Judging by the other reviews included in this list, he had filled a niche for the idealistic and gullible hoping to escape modern life. Unfortunately, the society he describes never existed.

How he found the words...
I'm almost done with this book. It's fantastic! He writes very lyrically without over doing it. It's not too flowery or hokey.

13 working parts to the heart
I've seen too many drunk, passed-out, "Maya" in Guatemala, laying belly-up on the side of the road, the asphalt ribbon some strange skimmer in a waterless aquarium of patchwork land plots, to really romanticize the "beauty" in drunken public rituals and feasts. Yet, Prechtel makes a really solid case for Beauty breaking the Glass Ceiling to the Gods: Beauty in the ornate ancient eloquence of their speech (often expressed in food terms of deliciousness and "cooking"); Beauty in their many layers of opulent, intricate clothing; and yes, Beauty in being drunk out of their gourds from having made themselves irresistibly delicious to the Gods during an income-leveling, life-renewing, inner-twin calling, Desire-Fest with the Gods.

Other than having to walk two miles with no shoes to fill a tank with water before going to school, it makes me Wanna Be Maya. I guess I have to start with my Bundle: objects, previously unknown to me, exactly like one seen in a dream. "One's power would then have an actual physical place to sit...The spirits must have a home, or they become sad orphans or renegades. A person whose spirit has no home becomes depressed or a criminal". Maybe if I could have a dream about mousetraps or blossoming avocado seeds, I would be spared the ignomy of 21st century affluent society. Then I too could divine that Holy Boy has his hand near Mountain Goddess's cucaracha and avoid getting lice in my eyebrows. Or at least have enough breakfast cereal to fill my molars.

The real message here is, don't send missionaries, Peace-Corp volunteers and aid (lawyers, guns and money), it ain't going to change something that was never really broke. Or if it is broke, it wasn't meant to last that long anyway, and just gets fixed the time-honored way of remembering the Gods with feeding Them deliberately and ritually. Try telling that to a Psych major Peace Corp volunteer, and watch them beat themselves with a solar oven brick. Chiviliu is laughing all the way to the buried cigar box. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

clear, informative, important work.
Maybury-Lewis's newest work is incredibly clear and informative and offers non-anthroplogist and scholars alike a perceptive and important work ... Read more

Book Description

Haraway's discussions of how scientists have perceived the sexual nature of female primates opens a new chapter in feminist theory, raising unsettling questions about models of the family and of heterosexuality in primate research. ... Read more

Book Description

This brief text has been completely revolutionized to present students with the latest contemporary thinking on human evolution, adaptation, and prehistory. It offers students a straightforward and integrated presentation of material, focusing on selected aspects of physical anthropology and prehistoric archaeology as they relate to the origin of humanity, the origin of culture, and the development of human biological and cultural diversity. A New feature entitled "Biocultural Connections" illustrates how cultural and biological processes work together to shape human evolution and behavior, and reflects where the field is today. New coverage on cutting edge topics such as medical anthropology, genetics, environmental toxins, and globalization, demonstrate the usefulness of anthropology today. A new, unique ?Epilogue? looks at cultural disease and globalization. ... Read more

Reviews (29)

A challenging look at human history and drug use.
If you are looking for a thought provoking book that is a bit left field, but well written, this book is for you. The main premise of the book is that due to climate changes homonids were forced to adapt eating habits to include previously untried foods, such as psychoactive plants and mushrooms, and that this led to an evolutionary jump for the species. McKenna then shows historically how and why certain drugs have become dominant and what this could mean for humanity. McKenna's idea concerning the origin of the human species is an interesting conjecture but the evidence seems too thin to me, but on the other hand his analysis of the effects of drugs on western civilization hits the nail on the head. Alcohol, tobacco, coffee, chocolate, sugar and television (yes, television) are all promoted or are tolerated by society. McKenna shows you why this is and what it could mean for our future. A previous reviewer said that McKenna promotes the annihilation of the mind, which is patently false. I can hardly believe he read the book. Whether you agree or disagree with the theories presented in this book it will make you think and entertain you in the process. The mind is what got humanity to this point in history and it is the key to our collective future. That is what this book represents, being responsible for our own consciousness and the world that we create.

Fascinating, Whether It's True or Not
Terence McKenna (Food of the Gods), Julian Jaynes (Evolution of Consciousness ...), Camille Paglia (Sexual Personae), and Ruth Eisner (Chalice & the Blade) all look at the same evidence, and come to radically different, but equally radical, conclusions about the origins of what we call civilization (while trying to keep a straight face). Reading all three is an interesting, fun, and maybe useful exercise in juggling different world views. Ask yourself: why did each of them see the same evidence differently?

Or, perhaps, it's just a matter of trying to make too much soup from too little stock. The reason we CALL prehistory "pre-history" is that there's so little history to work from, so each brilliant (or not) author gets to project their own interpretation of what they'd LIKE the evidence to mean. In McKenna's case, by the end of the book, it is obvious what he wants the evidence to mean. Terry McKenna wants us all to get off of what the Church of the SubGenius calls "Conspiracy Drugs," the ones that America got rich off of, like tobacco, caffeine, white sugar, distilled alcohol, and television. If we need to get high or drunk or trashed or whatever, he says that we need to go back to the drugs that first made human beings strong, fast, smart, sexy, and spiritual: organic psychedelics.

Of COURSE this is a weird and controversial view point. That's half the fun of this book. You know that only the trippers and the stoners are going to come out of the back end of this book fully convinced. But even if you're not one, you just mind find yourself a teensy bit convinced, and that, my friend, is a strange sensation. Besides, it's a rollicking fun read.

human-plant symbiosis
a highly original, powerful work of revolutionary thinking designed to heal the planet and our own minds.

The author was a brilliant man who vouchsafed to us some of the most amusing and enlightening ideas ever transmitted.

This work is full of brainstorming wonder!

McKenna has a brilliant explanation for consciousness.
This man is a genius! In Food of the Gods, McKenna postulates that monkeys on a diet of mushrooms, or dipping for insects in mushrooms, ate psychoactive chemicals that eventually played a major part in the evolution of human consciousness.

He then goes on to examine mushroom spores and there ability to leave the planet and travel intergalacticly in deep space frozen hibernation before landing on another planet. He describes the mushroom as the perfect vehicle for intergalactic travel and the spreading of consciousness.

SPACE MUSHROOMS!

The rest of the book is all about mankind's evolution with psychoactive plants by his side. Although he did get some things wrong in this book it was still cutting edge for its time and remains one of the most important thoughts on the topic to date. The world will also miss the man after his recently passing into that higher realm of consciousness.

Take this trip with Terence McKenna and expand your IQ.

Best book I have read in a long time
This is a beautiful, new and refreshing walk through on human evolution, I recommend this to everyone intersted in human life. I feel that McKenna has created a very interesting, expansive and easy to understand thesis on our lives and history, in which the most important point McKenna seems to be making is the need to "Change our Minds". The implications on dominator/ego socity, drugs, philosophy, psychology and science is what has given me a huge respect for one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. This is such a good book I feel it is a must read. ... Read more

Book Description

An up-to-date pictorial review of the major fossil finds in the world! This updated, introductory guidebook to the fossil record of prehuman and human evolution presents detailed drawings of complete or nearly complete specimens representative of particular grades of evolution. Each drawing (usually shown at 75 percent of original size) is accompanied by appropriate information, including geographical location, approximate age, and general description. Descriptions include information on the context of the discovery and summary anatomical details. The detailed drawings in this highly regarded volume make it an excellent sourcebook for use in departments with limited fossil cast collections. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Narrative Fiction
Remember seeing all those pictures of various "hominids" lined up according to the supposed progression from apes to humans? According to Henry Gee's 2001 book, In Search of Deep Time, such scenarios are works of complete and utter narrative FICTION, unsupported by any credible understanding of the fossil record. According to Gee, all of the "hominid" fossils that have any bearing on human "evolution" can be stored in one small box. This is all of the evidence we have of human "evolution"--one small little box of fossils supposedly representing a time period of multiple millions of years. And we have more more and better fossils for "hominids" than for any other class of species, according to The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution.

Look at all the pictures you want: evolution is, was, and always will be a narrative fiction, a superstition.

Human Origins-- A Guide
Okay, Australopithecus afarensis. I've heard of Lucy; I know she was found at Hadar in Ethiopia, but what is her accession number? How much of her was actually recovered? Good thing I have my copy of Larsen et al. "Human Origins: The Fossil Record" on hand.

Superbly illustrated with line drawings and maps of the different fossil localities, this encyclopedic text traces human evolution from the Dawn Apes through modern Homo sapiens in the best way possible-- with the fossils. Each specimen is well drawn, most in multiple views, so that the student or amateur who can't make it to Addis Adaba to see the real thing can have a chance to compare fossil homonids from around the world. In addition, for comparative purposes, the authors have also supplied illustrations of the modern great apes. A fun and informative text either for study or just as an escape into our origins. I must emphasize, however, that the emphasis of this book is on illustrations for pictorial comparisons, not on descriptions. The text concerning each fossil, therefore, is fairly short.

The Complete Record
When you read this book you will realize why there is so much controversy about Human origins. The fossil record is so sparse, it makes you wonder how scientists have been able to deduce as much as they already have. This book was probably written as a reference for college level courses in paleoanthroplogy, but it is also a good reference for armchair amateurs such as myself. Concise, well written and superbly illustrated, the book is an invaluable resource.

Awesome illustrations and coverage of the specimens
Covers a ton of prominent homind specimens with detailed black and white illustrations (drawings not photos) that accent the morphological features of each specimen. Includes detailed descriptions of the specimens and also a nice description at the beginning of each section. As a bonus also includes a section with non-hominid primate specimens. This book is great for anthropology students needing a quick reference to numerous specimens. It also contains numerous references to the literature about each specimen so makes a great starting point for research.

Human Origins
This book is an excellent source for students and teachers of human evolution. It is the first compilation that I have seen that puts drawings of all the major fossil finds together in one place. It is very helpful as a supplementary text in an intro human origins class since most books lack adequate pictures of the major fossil players. ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive book tells a narrative story of human prehistory to a reader with little or no archaeological experience or background. Designed to show how today's diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years and against a background of constant climatic change, it treats all areas of the world evenly, and covers all periods of prehistory from human origins to the appearance of literate civilizations. Recent discoveries, new archaeological methodologies, and the latest theories of human biological and cultural evolution add to the excitement of this adventure in archaeology.The tale begins with human origins and ends with the Spanish Conquest of Mexico and Peru in the fifteenth century A.D. It spans the origins of food production and the development of civilization—not only in classic areas of archaeological research like Europe, southwestern Asia, and Mesoamerica—but in such lesser known regions as southeast Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.For individuals who recognize the importance of knowing the past to understand the future—and our world today. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

spelbinding meeting
as a student of the archaeology department of the aristotele university of thessaloniki i had a cource called "an introduction to prehistorical civilization".all over the year i did not have a clue what prehistory because i paid no attention to the lessons given although evey friday morning i was inside the classroom. the exams were close,i had to do something urgentely. to tell the truth i didn`t expect to find such a book to give me the essential knowledge i needed to understand this part of history and to give the gourage to continue reading and learning on this subject.easy to read and to understand too. lovely and encouraging writing giving all sort of primary ( further more)information on the theme discussed. i honestly believe it was a spelbinding meeting with this book that i will never forget. ... Read more

Book Description

This twenty-eighth edition of Annual Editions: Anthropology is a compilation of articles selected from the best of the public press including magazines, newspapers, and journals. This title is supported by Dushkin Online (www.dushkin.com/online/), a student website that provides study support tools and links to related websites. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Out of date
This book may have been important in the 1950's, but it's rather quaint and dated now. It contains many interesting anecdotes about the differences between cultures, but very little of it is systematic or scientific. The idea that other cultures are not like us and that their communication systems are different as a result is not very revolutionary at a time when one can read the blogs of Iranian students on a daily basis.

The book lacks rigor. In the third chapter, for example, the author introduces us to a formal concept of "Primary Message Systems" (such as "learning", "play", "territorality", etc), but the concepts aren't carried forward into the rest of the book and the reader is left hanging. Besides, one has to be pretty suspicious of such concepts when it turns out that there are exactly ten - not nine or eleven - of these primary message systems.

Many of the anecdotes are interesting and illustrative, but they're mostly limited to the cultures that Hall has experience with; which turns out to be Americans, the Hopis, middle eastern Arabs, the Japanese and one or two others. It would be more interesting to see examples drawn from all over the world. Better would be a systematic comparison of, say, the concept of being on time for a meeting covering a dozen or more cultures. Instead we get only anecdotes about the fact that Arabs and Latin Americans don't find it rude to be an hour late for a meeting while being an hour late infuriates Americans. What about Russians? What about Japanese?

The book is dated and this shows one of its biggest flaws. It's hard to read about the American male greeting ritual of pounding each other on the back and exchanging cigars or the American female desire for dominance within her kitchen with a straight face these days. The very fact that culture is transient and changes over time is hardly addressed in the book, but it's one of the most obvious points the 21st century reader takes away from the book.

Lastly, Hall tries to keep value judgements out of his comparisons, but fails at the task. Over and again he slips and lets us see his disregard for American culture. Americans are too conscious of time compared to more laid-back cultures. Americans are too strict in their concept of personal space. And so on. Whenever he slips and lets his opinions show, he invariably finds American culture lacking, no matter what it is being compared to.

This book is an interesting trip into the mind of a 1950's academic, but it's not very informative on modern culture or modern thought about culture.

Another winner from Hall, but maybe not his best
If you only read one Edward Hall book, I think that "Beyond Culture" is a better read, and more lucid. Although the two texts overlap somewhat, there are many concepts in this book that do not appear in the other (the idea of "High Context" vs "Low Context" cultures is only hinted at in this text).

The basic concept of "Silent Language" is that much of our communication is non-verbal, but that it consistently follows cultural and linguistic patterns, just as spoken and written communication does. The major difference in non-verbal communication is that it is mostly subconscious.

The book revolves around the idea that all cultural conventions can be classified as either formal, informal, or technical. Although he spends an entire chapter introducing this concept, I personally found the distinctions a bit confusing, although I do believe that the author has an important insight.

One of my favorite concepts was the idea of 'spacial accent,' which describes the size of and culturally-specific behaviors associated with that invisible zone we all carry around with us. This concept helps explain why Europeans (outside of the British) generally don't queue, and why this so aggravates Americans (and presumably Brits). The concept of 'order' also helps explain different behaviors in forming lines (American belief in 'first come, first serve, is culturally relative). Besides speaking about space, he also discusses the cultural aspects of time, which he also describes in terms of an 'accent'. (He deals with both space and time more fully in two of his other books.)

Hall makes quite a number of connections between cultural behavior, these three types of cultural convention, and specific forms of expression. Examples include: --Why scientists are terrible writers (one of several digressions away from non-verbal communications) --A very believable explanation of why art is art --Why long-range planning is rare in America

--A concept of sacred place that anticipates the recent idea that men retreat to personal 'caves'

All in all, I found this an enjoyable and enlightening book. I wish that it could have been more clear in spots, and I think it is fair to say that some of his ideas are more fully worked out in some of his other books. My only real complaint is about the quality of Anchor's reproduction, which uses a cheap paper that cannot withstand normal highlighters at all (try the wax Textliners from Faber-Castell).

a critique of the silent language
The Silent Language was indeed an excellent book on the cultural influences on communication. Its definition of culture in the contexts of time and space were insightful. The most interesting thing was the breakdown of culture as communication into three categories. This is truly a breakthrough in defining theory for anthropology and related social sciences.

However, the book was limited in its focus, given that this phenomenon does not apply to North Americans only, but to anyone wishing to travel to a foreign country, whether on business, or recreation. One could say that in order to understand it, we may substitute our own experiences into those given by the author.

But culture can only be understood in social, economical, historical and political contexts. It is these contexts that shape or influence our perception, and the way we relate to others. Therefore, if Hall seeks to appeal to the intelligent , culturally diverse, non-technical audience, he should make the book more culturally relevant. In doing so, however, he must avoid generalisations that may make the text too simplistic and lose its focus.

An overall interesting book.

A clear summary of nonverbal human communication avenues
In 1962 this book was provided to all Peace Corps Volunteers as part of their preparation for working abroad in non-U.S. cultures. Hall describes categories of communication which can be used to compare any two cultures. He discusses not only conversation but a number of non-verbal communication areas, with good illustrative scenarios, for the variety of attitudes toward personal space, use of time, interaction with authorities and the law, etc. His ideas seem congruent with Marshall McLuhan's famous concept of "the medium as the message." For me, --as a very verbal person, an artist, and a world traveler-- this book provided new and useful insights about inter- and intracultural communication. It is clearly organized, well written, fascinating, and as relevant to today's global communication as when it was written.

Still the best book available on non-verbal communication.
Hall delves into most of the possible modes of non-verbal communication. You will learn consciously what you have been doing unconsciously and will learn much about reading others' emotions and thoughts by their behavior. A real winner! Also a good companion volume to Morris's "The Naked Ape." ... Read more

Book Description

This wide-ranging handbook presents in-depth discussions on the array of subspecialties that comprise the field of sociological theory. Prominent theorists working in a variety of traditions discuss methodologies and strategies; the cultural turn in sociological theorizing; interaction processes; theorizing from the systemic and macro level; new directions in evolutionary theorizing; power, conflict, and change; and theorizing from assumptions of rationality. ... Read more

Book Description

This brief, concise version of Ember/Ember's larger best-selling book explores the significant achievements in physical and cultural anthropology. It is interested not only in what humans are and were like, but why they got to be that way, in all their variety.A four-part organization introduce readers to what anthropology is, discusses biological and cultural evolution, considers cultural variation, and highlights the applicable and practical uses of the field.For those considering a career in anthropology, and anyone who wants a better understanding of how research of the past can suggest possible solutions to various global social problems of today. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It's a textbook. As advertised.
The writing will put out fires, and a lot of the "discussion" is insulting to a thinking person's intelligence, but that's the norm for textbooks, is it not? The information is reliable as far as I know; generally it's very basic. Controversial claims are either carefully explained or carefully avoided.

I learned a lot about anthropology while reading this.

Well, and that's what a textbook's supposed to do.

Specifically, the book covers things like "the scope of anthropology," archaeology, very basic linguistics, food collection and production, economic systems, social stratification, gender, marriage and the family, kinship, political life, religion and magic, medical anthropology, and a discussion of possibilities for reducing violence and war. (It ends with, "There may be difficulties on the road to solutions, but we can overcome them if we want to. So let's go for it!")

Notice that a fifth edition has come out. I read the fourth edition, but you will probably want to read the fifth. The Embers have written some other textbooks on anthropology that you might check out as well. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Best known for The Serpent and the Rainbow, Wade Davis is an ethnobotanist interested in the native uses of plants, especially psychotropics. He finds many such plants in the travels he recounts in One River, especially coca and curare. (The first, famously, is a curse in the First World but is a necessity in the Andes, where it promotes the digestion of many kinds of food plants.) Framing Davis's narrative is an account of the dangerous World War II-era Amazonian expeditions undertaken by his mentor, Harvard biologist Richard Evans Schultes. Davis describes a few hair-raising encounters of his own, making this a fine book of scientific adventure. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Davis'portrayal of the Amazon is brilliant.
One River was one of the best books I have read in quite some time. As a Ph.D student in Botany, I was inspired by the accounts of Shultes, Plowman and Davis' journeys to the Amazon seeking tropical plants and learning from the people who have been using them for generations.. Davis has a rare ability to mix technical science writing with a deep knowledge of history, culture, and politics and make it flow into a coherent narrative. Any student of ecology, evolution, (especially of plants) will love this book as will people with an interest in the cultures and history of the Amazon basin.

Human & Ecological Diversity Fall Victim to the Modern World
"One River" will take you on a journey that you will never forget. It will introduce you to one of the twentieth century's most remarkable men--Richard Evans Schultes, as well as one of the world's most fascinating places--the Amazon.

The book is the story of the work of Schultes and two of his students, including the author Wade Davis. It will take you as close as you can ever be to lost cultures and lost ecosystems along with cultures and ecosystems that are very much endangered. Wade Davis is a champion of both human and ecological diversity. "One River" is probably the most eloquent testament to ethnic and biological diversity I've ever read.

As the modern world encroaches on every last nook and cranny of this beautiful earth, "One River" serves as a primer about what once was and about the price we pay as we lose one more species, or one more human culture forever.

This book is an adventure story. It is a story of incredible academic accomplishment. The term academic, with its connotations of being hopelessly removed from the real world does not apply here. Schultes and his students could not be more connected to the real world.

"One River" is the story of man and nature and how the two interact, each forever changing the other. Read this book and then tell your friends about it. While it is hard to make such a claim (there are so many good books), I'd have to say this is my favorite book.

Even Deeper in the Wonder
This will be a very short review on a book that has long been with me. While working on a reproductive biology macaw research project climbing into the canopy of the Amazon each day for 3 months i found ONE RIVER one night piled amongst the research literature. Even though i had the Amazon literally ground into my bones after so many days of hard labor i could not put this book down each night reading by candle. Could one gourge on steak then still enjoy reading about cattle? This is simply a fascinating, and most well written book on arguably the most complex wonderful ecosystem as experienced by a most hard working curiously gifted individual. Do your soul a favor and read this book 5 times!!!

Wade Davis opens up the amazon and ethno-botany
I have read this book fully three times over five years. I am still amazed at the wealth of detail, yet the subtle humor in Davis' descriptions of the plants and peoples of the Amazon basin. The book is so detailed that I think many people glaze over in trying to read it. I would say it helps to read it before and then after you visit any rainforest. It also gives you a whole different approach to medicine and healing. The shaman empathizes with a patient, and uses native plants on HIMSELF to approach the healing process. Then, illuminated regarding what course to follow, provides the patient with a very specific course of healing, often using other plant materials. Often dismissed in our American culture as superstition, these practices are fascinating to read about from an author who has travelled, observed, and done what we can only imagine, and who seems to believe otherwise.

River of Life
One River reads like an adventure story, a character sketch, a history, and a PhD dissertation. How Davis is able to hold so many disparate strands together so well is a true marvel. That he is an excellent writer surely helped but so did his choice of topics-all quite fascinating.

Rarely does one pick up a book, especially non-fiction, that cannot be set aside. This book glues itself to your hands and you won't be able to shake it until you've finished. Then you'll wish there were more.

In the broadest terms, One River is a biography of Davis's mentor, Richard Evans Schultes. I had become familiar with Schultes's work when researching hallucinogens. Well-known in that particular field, he is renowned generally as the godfather of ethnobotany. Tracing any strand in modern botany you'll find him again and again. He was incredibly prolific and a born adventurer. Many species of plants are named after him because his colleagues so highly respected him.

Davis recounts his personal experiences under Schultes-the strange days at Harvard, the mission Schultes sent him on to study cocaine in 1970s Columbia-and then proceeds to unravel his hero's own story. One needs to read the book to appreciate the twists and turns of this plot but let's just say Schultes has taken all drugs, lived with all new world tribes, and regularly voted for Queen Elizabeth II in presidential elections. In spite of his noted eccentricities few scientists could claim such respect or accomplishment.

In the early 40s he was employed by U.S. government to find and/or cultivate a new world source of high quality rubber. A decade of work almost resulted in a better rubber that would enrich the people of Central America and ensure the U.S. a constant supply of this industrial mainstay. Please read almost... a single guffaw by some legislators destroyed all this work and left us in the lurch of depending on Southeast Asia for our rubber, a precarious situation to be sure.

Throughout the book, the main backdrop is the Amazon. One of the reasons I had trouble putting the book down was because it transported me to that exotic place. Though I was doing my same old routine, I could jump into the narrative and feel like I was on an intrepid vacation never sure what the next bend in the river would bring: menacing or friendly natives, a new species of orchid, other wanderers, a potently hallucinogenic plant?

For a thoughtful and engaging read one can do no better. ... Read more

Book Description

The Huang Di nei jing su wen, known familiarly as the Su wen, is a seminal text of ancient Chinese medicine, yet until now there has been no comprehensive, detailed analysis of its development and contents. At last Paul U. Unschuld offers entry into this still-vital artifact of China's cultural and intellectual past.

Unschuld traces the history of the Su wen to its origins in the final centuries B.C.E., when numerous authors wrote short medical essays to explain the foundations of human health and illness on the basis of the newly developed vessel theory. He examines the meaning of the title and the way the work has been received throughout Chinese medical history, both before and after the eleventh century when the text as it is known today emerged. Unschuld's survey of the contents includes illuminating discussions of the yin-yang and five-agents doctrines, the perception of the human body and its organs, qi and blood, pathogenic agents, concepts of disease and diagnosis, and a variety of therapies, including the new technique of acupuncture. An extensive appendix, furthermore, offers a detailed introduction to the complicated climatological theories of Wu yun liu qi ("five periods and six qi"), which were added to the Su wen by Wang Bing in the Tang era.

In an epilogue, Unschuld writes about the break with tradition and innovative style of thought represented by the Su wen. For the first time, health care took the form of "medicine," in that it focused on environmental conditions, climatic agents, and behavior as causal in the emergence of disease and on the importance of natural laws in explaining illness. Unschuld points out that much of what we surmise about the human organism is simply a projection, reflecting dominant values and social goals, and he constructs a hypothesis to explain the formation and acceptance of basic notions of health and disease in a given society. Reading the Su wen, he says, not only offers a better understanding of the roots of Chinese medicine as an integrated aspect of Chinese civilization; it also provides a much needed starting point for discussions of the differences and parallels between European and Chinese ways of dealing with illness and the risk of early death.

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Reviews (6)

Lost in the Contradictions of Misunderstanding
Robert Feld is welcome to embrace Unschuld's highly scholarly, hard to read, disjointed text. My primary point is that this is NOT the Nei Jing, it is not the text, it is not readable as such, and it is not a guide for would-be doctors interested in practicing based on Nei Jing. That much should be more clear in the description of the book, but it is not. It should be called "Essays on Nei Jing."

As for feeling buised over a lack of 'modern' solutions, something I never mentioned, or an under-esteemed 'holism'--the main point is that the original holistic theory is obscured behind the great many errors in the Nei Jing.

This is in fact a late stage text, not a nacent one, the assumptions of scholars aside. References to Mawangdui texts as the beginning are themselves fallacious. The origin of the system, and its holism, are deeper, older, and not contradictory like the Nei Jing essays. They reflect a holistic system of knowledge heavily obscured in the late-stage texts we (and all of Chinese history) received.

So, the 'scoffing.' Those who find Unschuld's tone abrasive, and we are many, will use this term to refer to the haughty modern scholarly quality that exudes from the pages; the debunker's knife, if you will. Though modern knowledge advances through dividing and studying the parts, there are other methods of studying nature, and certainly these ideas were not fabricated in a modern-worldview workshop. They were not put together in pieces, and animated by the fuel of superstition, as Unschuld often makes it seem.

I look forward to Unschuld's further works, including the forthcoming full translation of the text, and any ideas he has about the relative age of the various essays. Following a path of 'dividing instead of lumping,' they are not that dear to my heart, just to my mind. But what else are scholars to do? The elephant is not known to those who feel a wall under their hand.

We need more scholarly books like this
Unschuld is thorough and thought-provoking. I will read the Suwen a little differently now, after reading Unschuld's book.

I don't agree with every conclusion the author makes, but I love mulling over the issues he brings up.

Yes, this book is scholarly, and you may need a dictionary here and there. But is that a bad thing?

It is not for someone who just wants to practice in blissful ignorance. It is not for a beginning student. It is not for someone who wants to mystify Chinese medicine.

It is for those who want to find deeper ways of looking at our medicine, and for those who like a little challenge to their own way of thinking. I will happily pre-order any book Unschuld writes.

An important resource on the history of Chinese medicine
An important scholarly review of a milestone medical classic, Professor Unschuld is his usual through self in presenting this material with copious references to support his conclusions. The acutal translation of the Su Wen is to follow in three volumes, this book reviews sources and cultural influences that helped shape the Su Wen. Considering the complex nature of the material in that work, this book is invaluable to the understanding of the Su Wen itself.

While not a book for the general public looking for lay information on Chinese medicine, this is a must read for those interested in the history of medicine, Chinese culture, and the influence prevailing cultural paradigms can have on even medical thought. Students and practitioners of Chinese medicine should also find this book valuable as there is so little documented information on the roots of this rapidly growing healing tradition.

I would also like to add that I do not believe Unschuld set out to do a hatchet job on holistic concepts as one reviewer seemed to think. I am a supporter of such concepts and do not always agree with everything Unschuld concludes. I feel however, that although one may disagree with some of his conclusions, one cannot argue with the scholarly rigor with which he supports those conclusions. This is a great book for the right audiance and will undoubtedly stand as a valuable reference for years to come.

Researching the Origins
Mr. Iannone is free to dislike any book or any author, and to say so. However, his review so misrepresents the "Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text" that it demands a response. Mr. Iannone's description of this excellent text is so far from the facts and purposes of the text that readers who had not seen the text could not know its content, or understand its intent. We learn what Mr. Iannone thinks but nearly nothing of the book itself.

It is critical to note that Dr. Unschuld scoffs at nothing. Dr. Unschuld apparently fails to treat the theme of "holistic" Chinese medicine with the hands-off reverence Mr. Iannone apparently demands. But this is Mr. Iannone's ax to grind and scoffing at holism is neither Dr. Unchuld's theme nor a fair description of the text. Chinese medicine evolved to serve the universal desire for a long and happy life not to answer the fragmentation of modern life the philosophy of holism attempts to address. To accuse Dr. Unschuld of scoffing at his sources is no different than accusing the ancient Chinese of failing to satisfy the needs of a time and place they could not have imagined. Not only were the social and philosophical milieu to which holism responds two millenia in the future but China in the era of the "Huang Di Nei Jing" had its own philosophies and these, Taoism, Confucianism, and Legalism, are the philosophical currents Dr. Unschuld's research considers, not because he scoffs at holism, but because these were the concerns of the culture from which the "Huang Di Nei Jing" derives.

While Mr. Iannone clearly feels that some darling of his own desire has been abused, that is again Mr. Iannone's response, not a description of the text. Indeed, perhaps the most considerable disservice in Mr. Iannone's review is the impression it gives readers that Dr. Unschuld's "Huang Di Nei Jing" is merely an opinion piece, not more than a viewpoint. It is not. It is the result of the largest East-West scholarly enterprise ever undertaken; it is the result of the largest collection of artifacts and textual references ever assembled in regard to a seminal Chinese text. It is the result of expertise drawn from many sources, many scholars and disciplines. The text does indeed point-out contradictions within the corpus of the surviving text but these are described as windows into the creation of an as-yet unfinished human enterprise, not the debunking of a philosophy of the distant future.

The "full text" (as if ancient documents were books to be pulled from a shelf) is not present, not as Mr. Iannone implies, to hide some holistic gem, but because this is the introductory volume, the preface if you will, of a multi-volume series that will include, not only textual sources but concordances, indexes and further commentaries. What the review hides from the reader is that direct quotations of the sources are plentiful, well-referenced and perfectly directed to the themes discussed.

What the "Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text" accomplishes is an overview of what has been revealed by a vast research into the extant sources. It is not a text for everyone; it is certainly not a text for someone hoping to resolve the contradictions and difficulties of life in technological societies. It is however an ideal book for those who would look at Chinese medicine through its sources. For those who want to see the roots of
today's Chinese medicine rich with the patina of an ancient time and uncensored by modern fashion and commercial expectation.

Another required work by Unschuld
This is not a book to read if one wants to learn or understand the roots of Chinese medicine, but it is excellent if one is researching the many ways in which scholars can scoff at ancient thought.

If you are thick-enough skinned through broad study to withstand his caustic, debunker's conclusions, it is a very worthwhile book to have--if for no other reason than for the appended material on the seven or eight chapters added hundreds of years later to the Han-era Su Wen--from which have been derived a range of complex chronological acupuncture applications of curiosity to some.

Like his earlier Nan Jing translation, this is a scholarly work that is thick as paste at catching the holistic argument for the theory. In that book, Unschuld was comprehensive but maddeningly inconclusive--damning through a show of the controversies about interpretation over the centuries--while notably not supplying the relevant chronological data (there is some information in the preface). In this text, Su Wen, he damns through a show of contradictions in the text itself, prefering the view that there is after all no 'right' answer, since this is primitive sympathetic magic and little more. This latest work reeks with the haughtiness and grandeur of 'real' medical knowledge.

Unlike Unschuld's Nan Jing, his Su Wen is not at all 'readable' as such...it is a collection of essays on issues. The full text or anything like it is NOT present, though there are copious quotations used throughout to demonstrate contradictions, in order to show the developmental confusion of the authors. These confusions are certainly there: but Unschuld is certain in his view that they are nacent--that the theory is not much older than the Su Wen itself.

Three stars, because if you need it, you can bear with it, but if you are looking for something else, this ain't it! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali
Geertz, a social anthropologist at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, is a prolific scholar on Balinese and Indonesian political and state organization. "Negara" is a Sanskrit word which originally meant "town"; in Bahasa Indonesia it now signifies nation or realm--the seat of political authority. Its opposite is "desa," the village, place, region, or governed area. Between these two contrasting poles-negara and desa-the classical polity developed. In his search for the "negara," the traditional state of pre-colonial Bali, he casts a wide analytical net over the cultural streams that flowed unchecked in to the archipelago for over 3,000 years from India, China, the Middle East, and Europe. Foreign contact/intervention left a permanent stamp on the island chain in the form of a Hindu civilization on Bali, Chinatowns in Jakarta, and a multiplicity of social structures, economic forms and kinship organizations. Geertz traces the sociological and historical interplay of state formation and dissolution and power and status distribution in 14th to 19th century Bali-an island symbolically caught in a parallel tug of nature between the tranquil Java sea to the north and the treacherous Indian Ocean to the south. Heavy on political theory, this book is more suitable for academicians, history buffs, and college students than for the general reader or the package holiday tourist. Substantiated by critical reviews of the scholarly literature, 130 pages of explanatory footnotes, and a lengthy bibliography, Negara puts forth a persuasive final model of the Balinese state as a distinctive political order. To understand Bali's past, is to understand Bali's present and future.

""Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show"
Bali flits in and out of the Western imagination: Conradian tropic kingdoms, National Geographic star attraction, Mead-Covarrubias-Belo-Geertz himself, tourist paradise (ever-fading). What is Bali all about besides emerald rice terraces, bare breasted beauties, cheap surfing holidays, and tremendously elaborate ceremonies featuring gamelan orchestras and graceful dancers ? Bali is indeed a mystery. If you approach NEGARA with the desire to learn more about this marvelous Indonesian island, you may go away disappointed. There are no Balinese voices in the book; modern Bali is hardly discussed.

NEGARA is an important book, but for those who specialize in the study of Southeast Asian kingdoms, for those who would like to question the standard Western method of studying political power, and for those interested in 19th century Balinese history as interpreted by America's foremost anthropologist, who is rather more known for creative (I'm with him) interpretations than for intensive field work. Geertz' work is going to last a very long time---something that can hardly be said about most anthropological writing. The reason is that he constantly sees things in a different way and can express his vision very clearly. His other books on Indonesia, for example "The Religion of Java", "Islam Observed", "Pedlars and Princes" and "Agricultural Involution" have all been classics for years. His article on the Balinese cockfight is one of the most seminal anthropological pieces ever written.

The Balinese state did not specialize in tyranny, conquest or effective administration. Its emphasis was on "spectacle, toward ceremony, toward the public dramatization of the ruling obsessions of Balinese culture: social inequality and status pride. It was a theatre state..." All the elaborate productions created were "not means to political ends: they wre the ends themselves, they were what the state was for......Power served pomp, not pomp power." (p.13) Geertz spends most of the 136 page book proving this point. [There are also 120 pages of notes.] There are detailed discussions of descent groups, client relationships, three major varieties of village organization aimed at administration, irrigation, and worship, and the connection between court and village. Then follows the scrutiny of ritual, ceremony, and symbols in Geertz' inimitable style. The point must be taken: Balinese society was one of unending rivalry for prestige among very-established levels of hierarchy which were, nonetheless, extremely fluid. The endless reiteration in symbolic, ceremonial terms of a fixed set of relations made up the Balinese theater state.

NEGARA, not a new book, is by now established as a classic text in Anthropology courses, in Religious Studies, Political Science, and Southeast Asian Studies in universities around the world. It portrays a political system that did not conform to the usual Western idea of what political power is all about. Geertz writes that he wanted to write a poetics of power, not a mechanics. He was successful. Readers may wonder if the ability to command and use resources like land, water, timber, or the sea, if the ability to control labor, even if indirectly, if the ability to control power, even if sporadic, do not underlie theater productions in a more definite way. But I think they will have to admit that NEGARA is a powerful politico-historical description that, for once, does not try to twist and mold the data to fit a traditional Western description of a political system. Symbolic action is not at all limited to Indonesian islands. Somebody may yet write a description of the USA as a "Theater State" albeit a very different one from old Bali. NEGARA contains many challenges. It is a great book. ... Read more

Book Description

Students don't just drop out of school, they dump it. Teachers don't just quit, they bolt. Both are victims of the alienation process that prevails in schools -- and is cultivated by the conditions within the school, the community, and society at large. The search for a solution to these conditions is hardly new, but nearly all attempts have failed.Giving Up on School provides educators with the insight they need to know why previous "solu-tions" solved nothing because reformers have approached the situation as two distinct problems. The root causes are the same in each and "mandate an immediate and drastic reappraisal." Giving Up on School is the culmination of years of sociologi-cal and anthropological research in school settings. The authors offer a compelling portrait of those who "turn off, tune out, and drop out" and then propose changes -- both modest and not-so-modest -- to reverse the trend. ... Read more

Book Description

This book summarizes and integrates information on theorigins, historical development, and current situation of the indigenouspeoples of Mesoamerica.It describes their contributionsto the present-day societies of Mexico and Central America and theirinfluence in the world community. The book integrates the experiences of allof these nations — showing what they share and how they differ andintegrates discussions of the roles of women as well as men in thedevelopment of present-day native societies, both throughout the book and ina separate chapter. ... Read more

Book Description

From the early Italian adventurers who played an important role in the European expansion across the Atlantic to the political and business leaders of the 1990s, this book tells a dramatic story. The heart of the story is the mass migration that took place between 1880 and 1924, when a whole culture left its ancient roots to settle in the cities and towns of America. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Review of La Storia
I thought the book was generally good. However, I thought the authors were more defensive about Ialians than they should have been. I do not think the book can be used as "history" because it is not objective enough. There are also errors in the book. For example Joe Montana played football for the San Fransisco 49ers, not the Giants. Giants are baseball. They left out Willie Mosconi, perhaps one of the best billiards players in the world. For a book, in my opinion, to be used effectively as history, it has to be objective and dispassionate. This is very unfortunate because the authors had a wonderful opportunity to really "lay it out there" and let the facts speak for themselves. Nonetheless, I have sent this book to at least five friends and family because it is good reading socially and not for professional academic use.

Outstanding...Meaningful in a very personal way...
What a great book! It chanced to catch my eye in recently and I've found it hard to put down.

This book eloquently ties together the *entire* experience of the Sicilian immigrant before, during and after their arrival. Although it is light on the parallel history of Sicily (Sammartino's Sicily is an EZ read) the focus on the American aspect makes it that much more unique.

Yet, there is excellent treatment of what the hollow term "Italian" meant to a peasant from Sicily - not much. Once they came to the US, they were effectively lumped together with everyone from what had only recently been joined (and by force at that) into a nation. The authors also provide context to the socio-economic misery effectively inflicted upon the southern regions to the direct and exclusive benefit of northern regions.

Also demystified is the pervasive myth of the Mafia, originally perpetuated by northern Italians as reasons why their welcome in the South quickly wore out - the Sicilians were regularly maligned as genetically inferior, lazy, unintelligent and all part of the Mafia. With the constant perpetuation of the "secret-society" angle - it's has all the chracteristics of a great meme. The roots are detailed including how and who profited from this wicked myth including: opportunistic northernern Italians, sensationalist meida, ignorant Americans and isolated criminals interested in making themselves bigger than life.

It's a bitter irony that so many southern Italians immigrants and their descendants became successful in America while their own homeland refused to give then any opportunity. Armed with the facts, Italians and Italian-Americans have a chance to separate the fact from fiction.

I'm a 3rd generation (Sicilian-Calabrese) American originally from Chicago, and the book rang true again and again. My experiences, the stories that I'd heard from family and friends, the make-up of the neighborhood I grew up in and how the media often portrays Italians.

I recommend this book for all Italians, Italian-Americans and especially those of southern Italian descent. I'd even recommend this book to people that have friends and family that are Italian or have any interest in the culture.

Bravissimo to the authors for writing a detailed, well researched treatise on what for many of us has been unwritten until now.

Outstanding and well-researched
La Storia provides an excellent historical record, as well as an in-depth discussion of the social consequences faced by immigrant Italians and their children. It is OUTSTANDING reading not only for Italian Americans (especially those of Southern Italian descent), but also for those wishing to better understand an often marginalized group of people who have contributed to this country in fascinating and tremendous ways. I have given this book as a gift to several friends.

This book is outstanding
A book of this sort was long overdue. Perhaps I am not familiar enough with works in this area, but it was refreshing to see a well researched, serious account of the early Italian American experience. As a second generation Sicilian, I can testify that the anecdotes regarding family traditions, etc are authentic. In addition, the book lends tremendous insight into the connection between current Italo-American customs and beliefs and their genesis and roots back in Sicily. This book is also a monument to the many and varied contributions that Italian -Americans have made to this country. It should serve as a wake-up call to all Italian-Americans that we have let assimilation rob us of our unique identity as Italians and as Americans. This book is a "must read" for all Italian-Americans and anyone who thinks (from thier exposure to shamefully biased and opportunistic gangster films) that they have even the vaguest notion of what it means to be an Italian American.

I am still in the process of reading.
All throughout grade school, High school and college I was always a bit disturbed that history classes spoke so little about the italian influence on the exploration of the New World. From reading this book you get a true picture of what the italians contributed to the early exploration of America. My parents are both immigrants from Sicily and they have told me a little about the trials and tribulations they and family members went through when they first arrived. Once I complete the book I will be sure to give a final review of the whole story. I want to take this opportunity to find out if the book is printed in Italian. My parents would love to read the story about their past experiences. Please send me an e-mail. Thank You ... Read more

Book Description

Traditionally, the effectiveness of medical treatments is attributed to specific elements, such as drugs or surgical procedures. However, many other factors can significantly effect the outcome. Drugs with nationally advertised names can work better than the same drug without the name. Inert drugs (placebos, dummies) often have dramatic effects on some patients and effects can vary greatly among different European countries where the "same" medical condition is understood differently. Daniel Moerman traverses a complex subject area in this detailed examination of medical variables.Since 1993, Cambridge Studies in Medical Anthropology has offered researchers and instructors monographs and edited collections of leading scholarship in one of the most lively and popular subfields of cultural and social anthropology. Beginning in 2002, the CSMA series presents theme booksworks that synthesize emerging scholarship from relatively new subfields or that reinterpret the literature of older ones. Designed as course material for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and for professionals in related areas (physicians, nurses, public health workers, and medical sociologists), these theme books will demonstrate how work in medical anthropology is carried out and convey the importance of a given topic for a wide variety of readers. About 160 pages in length, the theme books are not simply staid reviews of the literature. They are, instead, new ways of conceptualizing topics in medical anthropology that take advantage of current research and the growing edges of the field. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Meaning, not placebo: Moerman gets it right!
As a family physician and behavioral scientist with strong interest in the "placebo effect", I can say without reservation that this is one of the best all-around reviews available. The "placebo paradox" has confounded reductionist thinkers for decades: if there is nothing in the pill, then how can it cause health effects? Dan Moerman doesn't have to take us far out of the conventional box to show that - of course - it isn't the inert pills, but instead the meanings attached with them that have influenced outcomes in so many scientific experiments. Meaning, belief and understanding govern how we think and feel, which in turn effect our physical and psychological health. Empty colored pills, sham surgery and suggestion lead to real health effects, even under the most rigorous of settings: randomized, double-blind, controlled trials. While reasonably comprehensive and highly accurate, this book is also accessible, as it is written with a style and flair that should prove attractive to most readers. Highly recommended it is!

Bruce Barrett MD PhD
Department of Family Medicine
University of Wisconsin - Madison ... Read more

Book Description

This book serves as a useful introduction of cultural anthropology by integrating ethnographic material from around the world. By drawing upon classic and recent research in the field, it reflects current state-of-the-art understandings of social and cultural changes based on the interrelationships among different societies. The book demonstrates the diversity of different societies and cultural patterns, yet at the same time reveals similarities in humans everywhere.A six-part organization covers: basic concepts in anthropology, basic concepts of culture and society, prestate societies, state societies, consequences of globalization, and anthropology and the global future.For individuals interested in assessin