Cultural Books

I am not African American, not African, not American, and this book was such an eye opener. It is so rich in humanity, it is a pleasure to read. Each one of the 6 books is written with a distinctive voice as a person is maturing. Maya has a way of writing that is refreshing, intimate and profound.

Through her eyes we become aware of the distinctive culture and values that her characters share or challenge. We see the need that every person has to live life fully and the questions we all need to answer about who we are and what are we here for.

I particularly liked the "All God's chhildren need traveling shoes" best. this book is a must for people who seek to accept that we can be different, yet valued.

It is a distinctive book because it is written in a way that lifts the spirits and intrigues the intelect. .... "to the determination to be no victim of any kind".

I happened to hear her speak at a lecture series. She spoke for an hour and I was interested to read more about her life. I am only on page 280 but this woman is amazing and her writing style is so crisp and clear, it is as captivating as she was as a speaker. I enthusiatically recommend this book.

This book is one of the best I've ever read. It shows the resilency of the human spirit. It's made me understand more about the black experience. I highly recommend it to everyone.

I purchased this book after reading, "I know why the caged bird sings", I found myself captivated by the spellbounding aura of maya angelou and in a thirst for her story purchased this book. I have drank her words readily and my only regret is that like all great things, the pages shall run out and my feast shall come to an end. This is a wonderful gift for any Maya Angelou fan, it branches outside of her poetry and makes the goddess of words appear a little more human.

Other than Maya's poems, I have never read her autobiographies. WOW barely describes what I read and felt. I always thought of Maya to be just what she is....a poet, an author. To read how her early life was, I see how her life's experiences brought her to where she is today. Not only does she speak honestly, her style of writing makes one feel they are her in the books. The size of the book may seem intimidating, but I could not put it down. I had to schedule myself to study for my class and read this book!

I had a dream the other day, that I was in the livingroom of Mary Wilson, the
book's author. She served tea and Stella Dora breakfast cookies, as we sat
on her couch looking through her family picture album. I've never met
Mary's family, so I occasionally asked, "Who is this?" and "Oh, is this you
as a baby?" And with each reply, Mary reminisced on the scene in the
photo, and cheerfully told me a little bit of her family's history.

This dream occurred while reading Ms. Wilson's book, "Colorless Soul." Told in
conversation style and sewn with pictures along the way, the
background of Mary's relatives, unfolds the remnants of her past and present. The stories
heard as a child about the grandparents she knew, and those who are a
mystery, cross stitch through the chapters. We learn how her family mended
the frayed edges of racial tension and economic status with their loving
support. She seamlessly weaves the small delicate details of the 50s
and 60s, which could have easily been taken for granted, into the tapestry
of her life. And, thoughts of snow on an old grave embroider the finishing touch.

Mary Wilson transcribes the expressions of a griot into the written word. She should
be commended on creatively combining 80+ years of ancestors and events in
such a well organized and concise manuscript. Mary displays her black pride in the variety of family hues, from near white, and medium brown to ebony black. I recommend this book for all
born in this melting pot called America. Let's not let our dream of unity go to the grave. Let's live in the present as colorless souls.

Description: Expressions of a griot into the written word

I had a dream the other day, that I was in the livingroom of Mary Wilson, the
book's author. She served tea and Stella Dora breakfast cookies, as we sat
on her couch looking through her family picture album. I've never met
Mary's family, so I occasionally asked, "Who is this?" and "Oh, is this you
as a baby?" And with each reply, Mary reminisced on the scene in the
photo, and cheerfully told me a little bit of her family's history.

This dream occurred while reading Ms. Wilson's book, "Colorless Soul." Told in
conversation style and sewn with pictures along the way, the
background of Mary's relatives, unfolds the remnants of her past and present. The stories
heard as a child about the grandparents she knew, and those who are a
mystery, cross stitch through the chapters. We learn how her family mended
the frayed edges of racial tension and economic status with their loving
support. She seamlessly weaves the small delicate details of the 50s
and 60s, which could have easily been taken for granted, into the tapestry
of her life. And, thoughts of snow on a warm grave embroider the finishing touch.

Mary Wilson transcribes the expressions of a griot into the written word. She should
be commended on creatively combining 80+ years of ancestors and events in
such a well organized and concise manuscript. Mary displays her black pride in the variety of family hues, from near white, and medium brown to ebony black. I recommend this book for all
born in this melting pot called America. Let's not let our dream of unity go to the grave. Let's live in the present as colorless souls.

Reviewed by: Judine Slaughter
Express Yourself Books

A moving family saga through the eyes of a child.Mary takes you on a journey that pulls at the heart strings as you meet her family struggling in the face of adversity. Written with much wit ! Along with the pain you will be laughing as she quotes her Grandfather, Grandmother and other family members. She transports you back in time( wringer washers,ice boxes and 45's that cost .50) A touch in the lives of a family that remains strong.Mary tell's it like it is, What it was like growing up black, poor, light skinned, of mixed heritage and how society and social standard can deprive you of family and who you are because of racism.Hat's off to Mary for taking notes, listening with keen courious ears as a child and putting it all together as far as she could. This book is a piece of history, A memoir, an important diary to pass on to her legacy, who will for many generations to come be very glad she did. I read this book straight through, And I too only regret it had to end... so I'm waiting for the sequel as well.

I loved this story. It was engaging and very well written. At times it was almost like being a fly on the wall or growing up as one of Mary's sisters as the author made your privy to so much private family information. It appears that the author had alot of questions and was quite inquisitive as a child (who isn't!) And although there were specific names that the author couldn't mention in her book I believe that Colorless Soul is a wonderful piece of documented history that can easily be passed on to children and great grands regardless as to whether or not you are related to this author. It is wonderful to be able to get information from as far back as the author did. Color/shade/complexsion aside this book is a true testiment to ancestry! Simply thrilling.

Linda Dominique Grosvenor

COLORLESS SOUL examines the complex issue of race relations in the North by tracing the author's family history after the Civil Rights War to the 1980s.

The author asks the question "What is White?" This is a question that cannot be easily answered. The state of whiteness is not simply appearance. In the United States, a person who has African American ancestry can never be white. To the world, he may appear to be white. However, under the doctrine of the one drop rule, he always will be African American.

The author eloquently demonstrates this point in the portrayal of her maternal grandfather Alex Bonner. Alex was raised by his white father and his family. As a young boy, Alex hated African Americans with vengeance. He wanted to have nothing to with black people.

At the age of 12, Alex is told the shocking truth about his heritage. Alex feels betrayed, because he has been living a lie. He does not want to pass for white. He is African American. He leaves his family and begins to live the rest of his life as a black man.

An equally compelling issue is the fact that men who fathered children by African American women denied the fact that their children existed.

The author's paternal grandfather was an Italian who lived in the North. He never acknowledged her father or his family. The Italian grandfather wanted to pretend that her father was never born and he did not exist.

This pretense is no better than her maternal grandfather's family who wanted her other grandfather to pass for white. What is worse? Denying your African American ancestry? Or denying that you are a father of a black child?

The author discusses the dynamics of growing up as a lighted skinned African American in a working class family. To some, she is privileged, because she has light skinned and straight hair. However, the reality is that she is African American; and she like dark skinned African American faces the ongoing struggle of racism. This is an inescapable fact.

COLORLESS SOUL is a moving and poignant novel. I would highly recommend this book.

The Celts have a term for people like Studs Terkel. Mr. Terkel is one of our cultural Shanahee. In the world of the ancient Celts, the story around the fire was the way in which cultural values, community and family history was transmuted to future generations. The role of the Shanahee was to keep the family tales and pass them on to future generations. That is exactly what Mr. Terkel does with this book. Wisdom and the values of the past are not something that younger generations today value so I fear that Mr. Terkel's book, although very interesting and informative may not be read by many nor the great pearls of wisdom discovered and carried forward.
Over sixty elders were interviewed by Studs Terkel. After reading about their lives, their adventures, their hopes and dreams for the future, and their indomitable spirits, there are some that I would really like to have had the opportunity to meet and other that I did not find as interesting.
Since this book is a collection or oral history interviews, it is not a typical book that a gerontologist would use for research yet the book is helpful to those desiring to know more about the life experiences of older persons. As I read the book and entered the life experiences of those interviewed, I was moved and challenged and delighted as I read about people whose lives impacted and created the world I live in today.
After reading Terkel's book, and this was the first book that I read written by Terkel, I think that oral history is an under utilize in teaching history and makes a contribution to understanding the lives of people, common people, who were part of making the history we learn about in text books. In many ways oral histories make history come to life.
I don't believe that Studs Terkel set out to write this book as a means of making a contribution to any one particular academic field. I think his motivation was two fold. The first purpose was to give the reader insight into the common person's impact into the events that formed the 20th Century. The second purpose was to allow those who he interviewed to tell their story and in recording their story, allow that person to leave their legacy to the world. Coming of Age contributes to gerontology as a field because it elevates the art of oral history, it highlights the importance of oral history in understanding the life experiences of older adults, and it allows a means of informally testing formal theories of aging by comparing and contrasting those formal theories with the actual life experiences of real people.

Pulitzer Prize winner Studs Terkel, widely known for his oral histories on World War II, work, race and the Great Depression, here offers an oral history of the twentieth century. The 70 people on record range in age from 70 to 99 and represent a wide variety of endeavors from labor organizers to CEOs, cops, lawyers, philanthropists, doctors, environmental crusaders, artists, clergy, farmers and more.

In addition to a zest for life, which they all share (few, despite physical infirmities, consider themselves "retired"), a few common themes emerge in these recollections. Whatever their background, almost all were affected by the Depression and World War II and a surprising number felt the blight of McCarthyism.

Yet most view the young today as facing a tougher road than they did. And while they all claim to find younger people invigorating, most deplore the modern lack of community feeling, the emphasis on self, the ignorance of history and unwillingness to learn from the struggles of the past.

The Catholic priest who was a gung-ho soldier in World War II, learned about race in a poor southern parish and went on to join the Berrigans in protesting the Vietnam War, says that what's "lacking today is a national cause in which all can join." You could say he spoke too soon or those were the days.

Jazz musician Milt Hinton's grandmother was a slave of Jefferson Davis. He recalls the apprenticeship of his youth, sitting in with the greats. When prompted he cites the more absurd of racial indignities faced touring the south but prefers to dwell on the good times, voicing regret that those opportunities don't exist for today's young black musicians.

All of these oldsters have strong convictions about what's wrong with the world, although surprisingly few sound cranky about it. "I'm deeply accustomed to giving advice that is not heard," says economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a long time critic of "private affluence and public squalor."

Many of them find a new freedom in old age. "Young people don't have this liberty," says environmental activist David Brower. "They can't alienate themselves too much from the system."

Some seem to live almost wholly in the present. A Nisei school teacher who spent World War II in an internment camp spends her entire interview enthusing about the young children she teaches and the future before them.

An admiral who directs the Center for Defense Information, a whistle-blowing group, was a model naval officer. "My fervor and dissent has increased....as you get older, you realize that whether it be a justice of the Supreme Court or the president of the United States, he's just a human being subject to human foibles."

Terkel, a feisty fighter himself, has naturally picked a large proportion of social and political activists - people who see the world as imperfect then and imperfect now - but always worth fighting for. This is an invigorating and thoughtful collection and a fine perspective on the last century.

A host of compelling stories marks COMING OF AGE as one of the top efforts from oral historian Studs Terkel. We hear from dozens of outstanding senior citizens, each one giving their personal remembrance of American life in the 20th Century. The mostly liberal interviewees range from ordinary citizens to baseball activist Marvin Miller, Congressmen Henry Gonzalez and (the late) Charles Hayes, and Chicago medical director Quentin Young. Readers get a strong personal sense of major events like the Depression, World War II, McCarthyism and Civil Rights - something one seldom gets from dry academic texts. The book also lends credence to tales many of us once heard from older and often now-departed relatives.

I gave COMING OF AGE just four starts because Terkel's increasing rigidity in sticking with liberal interviewees deprives readers of an honest cross-section of views. Despite this flaw, COMING OF AGE remains a moving effort.

Studs Terkel captures in this volume what few children of the new millennium will ever learn about or experience: how our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents grew up, grew old, and left footprints on the twentieth century. His vignettes of life throughout the century, focused on the lives of amazing Americans from coast to coast, are quite profound. Terkel did not profile famous athletes, politicians, and CEOs; his interviews capture the lives of those who have made - and continue to make - an impact on our local communities.

It did not take very long to become addicted to this book. Terkel captures some of the most valuable American minds at just the right moment. The interviews give a first-hand look at history while capturing pearls of wisdom for the future. I recommend this volume as a gift and as a textbook for students. What Studs Terkel has captured here is worthy reading for any generation.

American society suffers from collective Alzheimer's, says Studs Terkel, "and the young are suffering from it the most severely. We don't know anything aboout the past and we don't seem to want to know." The author of widely-praised, bestselling books like Hard Times, Working, Race and The Good War, Terkel interviews 70 strong minded and outspoken Americans, the youngest of whom is 70, the oldest 99. Nearly every page is mesmerizing. Particularly delightful are his interviews with art critic Katherine Kuh (at age 89) and Sophia Mumford (at 94), the widow of Lewis Mumford.

I have read and re-read Farid's book, "Competing Globally, Mastering Multicultural Management and Negotiation", several times this year! He has such insight and wisdom to bringing the nations together in communication skills and taking down the walls in the business realm that I have never seen or implemented before! I have actually found myself to be a mix of many of the different cultures discussed in this wonderful work and it has helped me tremendously in dealing with American businesses! This is the "I'm OK, You're OK" of the business world! Thank you very much Farid! Cheers to YOUR Global Success!

This book is an excellent resource for business professionals, providing insights into the various global cultures. Helpful real-world examples provide readers with tips for mastering interpersonal communications, meetings and presentations, and negotiations. Well-written and easy to read, this is a great book for business professionals who need to excel in cross-cultural business situations.

Competing is about "winning". In this book, Dr. Farid clearly rises an awareness flag on the important role of "culture" to win global competition. A "Cultural Intelligent."

I attended his class once a few years a go in Indonesia. I was admired by his strategy to make poll during the class. This smart way guarantees a more and more qualified poll result since the respondents are accumulated by time to time. He is studying while teaching. And, I have seen these compelling information colours the essence of the book.

As I previously guess before reading, Dr. Farid will fulfil this book with some significant samples from his direct experiences dealing with people in various cultures in many countries. And, I am not wrong about this.
Inside, I have also found the answers of the winning and loosing situations experienced while working and doing international business in past. These are the real value of this book.

Another beauty of this book is, it again tells us that our own way and value are not the only one in this world. There are a lot more cultural differences from country to country, from one race to another. It is now clear why sometimes "Yes" means "No" in some cultures or the other way around. So, in order to properly react to win, the power and the way of thinking of the competitors need to be known. Dr. Farid tells how to simply deal with it Since the business move towards global. The local goes global, the global comes to local.. This book really provides an enough weapon and maps to win the global competition. Enjoy reading it as I did !

Competing is about "winning". In this book, Dr. Farid clearly rises an awareness flag on the important role of "culture" to win global competition. A "Cultural Intelligent."

I attended his class once a few years a go in Indonesia. I was admired by his strategy to make poll during the class. This smart way guarantees a more and more qualified poll result since the respondents are accumulated by time to time. He is studying while teaching. And, I have seen these compelling information colours the essence of the book.

As I previously guess before reading, Dr. Farid will fulfil this book with some significant samples from his direct experiences dealing with people in various cultures in many countries. And, I am not wrong about this.
Inside, I have also found the answers of the winning and loosing situations experienced while working and doing international business in past. These are the real value of this book.

Another beauty of this book is, it again tells us that our own way and value are not the only one in this world. There are a lot more cultural differences from country to country, from one race to another. It is now clear why sometimes "Yes" means "No" in some cultures. So, in order to properly react to win, the power and way of thinking of the enemy need to be known. Dr. Farid tells how to simply deal with it. This book really provides an enough weapon and maps to win the global competition.

Since the business move towards global. The local goes global, the global comes to local. This book really provides an enough weapon and maps to win the global competition. Enjoy reading it as I did !

With regional and global opening up of markets due to WTO, AFTA, NAFTA, companies will have to learn to work with other companies in other countries to do business more effectively or at less cost. Generally selection of partners is done via short match-making sessions where due to cultural reasons, simple gestures can be misinterpreted. This can lead to loss of valuable marketing or partnering opportunities.

My personal experience in this aspect was in trying to market my company niche area in E-Government Consultancies to developing countries where these countries generally have a different native language, speaks English in a different accent. In addition, we have to differentiate between just curious inquiries or actual leads. Dr Farid's book provides important guidelines on small items which ironically creates the first major impressions. These are communications through telephone, casual chat over ice-breaking sessions, writing of letters etc.

I would recommend these book to managers who are entrusted to do marketing overseas and have to interact with their foreign counterparts. This is to ensure their actions or communications are not being misinterpreted and creating sense of distrust to their potential partners. In addition, they would also be able to gather if their marketing activities is making results

This is, quite simply, the best theory book around. Period.

The book covers everything on the self from Freud to Foucault. Excellent.

This is quite simply the best book on self-identity and the changing social context of identity that I have read. Simple, elegant and thought-provoking.

Elliott's Concepts of the Self is a beautifully written, carefully reasoned, impassioned plea for a reassessment of the connections between self and culture, identity and politics. Rarely have I read such an author with magisterial command of such interdisciplinary perspectives.

Read this for graduate course in humanities.
Anthony Elliott's "Concepts of the Self" agrees with the social psychologist George Herbert Mead, that the effort of self-examination is always dialogic. "Language is at the heart of the constitution of the self." People learn how to understand themselves and develop their "authentic selves" through conversation with others, through their social and cultural interactions, and most importantly, through the perceptions and judgments by others.

Many people have written on the inability of humans to be able to create an "authentic self." The father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, thought it difficult for a person to discover their "authentic self" since he believed that humans were not rational beings. Since Freud thought that human behavior was controlled by the unconscious, his research led him to believe that humans were constantly wrestling with the confining restraints civilization imposed on humans. The perception and judgment by others is where the creation of the "authentic self" is hardest to attain for the civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois. Du Bois puts it most succinctly in writing about the struggle that African-Americans have with defining their "authentic self." "It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others." Thus, Du Bois thought authenticity was a longing for African-Americans, but impossible to attain because they had to live with their double-consciousness. Judgment by others is also where the sociologist Erving Goffman focuses his attention in explaining why there is no such thing as an "authentic self." Goffman believes that human identity is made up of acts that humans perform essentially as theatrical performances. "If identity is performed, then the self is an effect, not a cause." The feminist Judith Butler and queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick both criticize the idea of gender-based identity. Both women agree that an "authentic self" crosses the traditional boundaries of gender, race, and sexual preference. As an example, postcolonial women and women of color have criticized feminist for lumping all women's identity into the one gender category. A postmodern critic of the `authentic self" is the sociologist Sherry Turkle. Her research into virtual sex on the internet leads her to believe that people have the ability to lead multiple lives and change gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity. "In short, the individual can devise a net-self that outstrips the real self."

Despite all of the criticisms of Elliott's concept of authenticity, I do agree that it is possible to be an "authentic self" in today's image-saturated and cultural environment. The important characteristic of the self that surfaces from what Elliott and his critics decry, is that the multitude of stimuli that one receives from dialog with other humans, society, and culture is conducive to the creation of an "authentic self" and not an impediment. People are capable of assimilating all the sensory perceptions that they receive, interpret them, and use what they deem necessary to fashion their own "authentic self."

Recommended reading for those interested in medieval philosophy, psychology and the humanities.

In his highly readable memoirs Yale University Professor Kang Zhengguo almost apologizes for not having it so rough in the Chinese Communist prison where he suffered privation and humiliation for three years, from September 1968 to September 1971. He reminds us that others have had it far worse, and points us to their books. But his tale of the common ailments including constipation and hunger that he and other prisoners suffered under the tyrannical rule of Mao Zedong's all-knowing and all-powerful party apparatus might be enough anyway to bring beads of sweat to a reader's brow. And for this precocious child of Xian, Shaanxi Province, who would never stop reading or learning or thinking, the prison term imposed for ordering Boris Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago by mail from the Moscow University Library in the "revisionist" Soviet Union was not the least of his suffering.

The Cultural Revolution rendered an already ailing China almost useless as a productive country. In a land where education and scholarship had been given almost religious importance for more than 2,000 years, questions and the people who asked them suddenly became suspect. Students took over classrooms; workers became the arbitrary, vengeful bosses. Kang Zhengguo's father always urged him to stick to the sciences as he was growing up in a middle class family in Xian - knowing instinctively and through his own suffering that books and the ideas in them could ruin a person. That's the way it was under the Communist tyrants. Yet Kang would read, and write, like his grandfather before him. Suffering was his calling.

His writing and reading cost him his place at college, alienated him from his father, landed him in prison, left him a second-class citizen for a decade and haunts him even now, he explains in Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China. He can't return to China - or won't. The last time he was there, in the enlightened year 2000, he was detained and interrogated and threatened for two days. Only his connections to Yale saved him. The Chinese citizen has no power in China, not political power anyway. Mao's death in 1976 changed little and the reforms of Deng Xiaoping brought economic prosperity for a few but at the price of everyone forgetting that they were stuck in a political quagmire. Kang Zhengguo escaped all that for the idyllic life of the bookish language teacher in New Haven, Conn. His writing got him in trouble, then provided his escape valve. His story will be especially compelling to writers and others who trade in ideas. But it will provide delightful reading for any student of China, filling in the details of the lives of ordinary people living through an extraordinary time in world history. - THOMAS BRENT ANDREWS / more reviews at http://chronicdiscontent.wordpress.com ##

Highly recommended for the reader interested in how one thoughtful young person might have survived during the madness of Mao's years. Professor Kang Zhengguo provides a well-written reaffirmation of the ultimate power of the lone individual. He, while adapting to hard circumstances, quietly strove for what was just in a time of unjustness.

A harsh, deadeningly corrupt political/economic system, seemingly designed to bring out the worst in all people, is described in powerful detail.

I am now reading the book Confessions and it is very interesting and well written.Kang gives you a very descriptive picture of what it was like to be in China during the cultural revolution. Very frightening! I think it also gives one some insight into the culture of China today,and why their culture seems to drive their economic growth to excede sans a sense of responsibility or morality.

Princeton professor Perry Link says in the Introduction that Confessions "may be the best account of daily life in Communist China that I have ever read. It stands out .. because of the extraordinary lifelike qualities of the writing and the credibility of its account .. Hundreds of writers .. have given accounts of China during Mao's years, but nearly all use an ideological lens .. This account, in contrast, is clear eyed."

As Link says, it is honest and devoid of Communist ideology, the first honest account "free of Mao" to appear out of China. The writing is superb and the characters pop out of the page. Certain scenes are anthropological in detail, such as rural peasant life, and some of the prison descriptions are, according to Link, as good as anything of its type available.

Zhengguo never sacrificed his internal integrity, which made him a nail-head that attracted the notice of the Communist hammer, usually involving literature and books: Zhengguo was jailed for three years for requesting a library copy of Doctor Zhivago. Zhengguo says the purpose in writing his memoirs: "I sought salvation through describing my trials and tribulations in writing. My purpose was not merely to complain but rather to salvage my dignity through honest revelations about myself and everyone who had interacted with me, whether friend or foe." Zhengguo has obvious faults, there are times the reader wonders how he could be so foolish and stubborn, but anyone who is a devotee of books and the literary life will find in Zhengguo inspiration for a dignified life and personal integrity.

An excellent memoir of the madness that was China's Cultural Revolution. Well-written, in-depth and even-handed. The author's description of his imprisonment for "thought crimes" is chilling.

Definately, this is one of the best Anthropology-oriented books I've read, academically or for pleasure. The fact that it is mostly exerpts from actual ethnographies helps to get points across while still more than keeping my attention.

Well Done

got this book for an anthro class at my University. its basically just a compilation of short stories (3 pages - 10 pages) about case studies in anthro. its an easy read and actually was pretty interesting.

The book came fast and it was brand new. The book was crisp. It's a soft covered book but it still made that new hard-textbook sound. :0)

I've used this collection off and on for years in teaching Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. It's a great book, a real standard in anthropology. Honestly, I think the relevance and quality of the essays varies from edition to edition. I liked the 11th more than the 12th. Sometimes a 'favorite' essay gets replaced; and then in the next edition it is returned. Go figure.

I note that sellers of used copies are claiming that the 11th edition is virtually the same as the 12th, that nearly every article is the same. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how often I have students believe this and buy the 11th edition, then struggle all semester because they don't have the chapters I've assigned. Only someone who has never used the book in class, either as a student or a teacher, would make such an egregiously wrong claim. So, if you're looking for a nice, cheap, used version, make sure that you buy the edition being used in your class. Most teachers will not assign every single chapter in the book; most select 8-12 chapters, and they can well be the chapters that are not in the older edition.

Caveat Emptor ...

This text was used in my introductory anthropolgy class, and I thoroughly enjoyed the readings. The text includes many case studies of differing cultures without being overly technical. I found this text easy to read, but very thought provoking. Highly recommended!

As a lifelong Alaskan, this book contained recipes that I've been searching for, but have never found. Yay!! It covers a variety of recipes - from blueberries to Walrus - and it would make a great gift for friends in and out of Alaska.

Bought this for my daughter and she loved it. I've gone to her home unexpectedly and there it was propped open on her coffee table with markers in pages, so I know she is reading it.

This cookbook was a gift, and what a gift. My husband is an avid outdoorsman and the great, no fuss recipes in this book are delicious. Buy it and enjoy!

I have owned more than one copy of this amazingly informative and very complete book! (I typically have had to replace it after friends and family from the lower 48 have visited my Alaska home.) This book provides an excellent selection of tradtional and non-traditional recipes as well as fascinating information on Alaska.

A must have for anyone who lives in Alaska, dreams of Alaska or collects cookbooks.

As a new Alaska resident, I am so glad I stumbled upon this cookbook. My husband is an avid hunter and fisherman, and I love to garden and pick berries. Cooking Alaskan has recipes for all of our wild game, water foul, fish, seafood, herbs, vegetables, berries, and more! If you can hunt it, catch it, grow it, or pick it, there is a recipe in this cookbook for you. A majority of the recipes (if not all) are submitted by tried-and-true Alaskans, not fancy chefs, so they are easy to follow and use ingredients that can be found in any supermarket.

The best feature of Cooking Alaskan is perhaps not the recipes, but all of the extra information contained inbetween. Tips on harvesting, butchering, cleaning, and storing Alaska foods; lessons on identifying poisonous plants and berries; and antecdotes and stories of Alaskan culture are practical, useful, and most of all, entertaining. Cooking Alaskan is much more than just a cookbook!

I love this book! Great as a gift or just to feast your eyes on celebrities. Top Quality Book - and I know what's sexy! - Kristy Welsh, Author of "Good Credit is Sexy"

though some of the featured celebrities weren't on my "sexy" list, they were presented very well and the photography was high quality. entertaining and creative shots, worth the price if not just for the alice in wonderland shot of drew barrymore on the first page. also includes some random text; very intelligent, provocative and fun. i keep this book out for frequent viewing.

Actually, I have two favorite celebrity photography books: this one and Rolling Stone: Photographers. I am an avid autograph collector; so, I use these books whenever I hear about a celebrity being in the area. At the moment, I have this book signed by Denis Leary and Stephen Dorf..with more to come, I hope. About the only photograph I didn't like was the two-pager of Alicia Silverstone. It doesn't really look like her. This is definitely a great book to have on the coffee table for company while you're still getting ready. :)

I cannot remember ever seeing a book of photography as filled with fun as this collection of images from Us Magazine. The humor is solid and clean, something that comedians have a hard time duplicating. The book is greatly enhanced by the special genius of Mark Seliger for this type of work.

Before going further, let me caution you that some images are of partially undressed women that would earn this material an R rating (on the soft side) if it were contained in a motion picture.

The photographs are reproduced in both color and black-and-white. The reproduction quality is very high, and the editors have chosen well where to use two-page spreads and where not to. Although not every image displays good-humored fun, about two-thirds of them do. The book probably would have worked even better if every image had followed that theme. In most cases, the image itself is a happy one that also contains a joke about the celebrity involved . . . creating two ways to have a fun with the image.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Drew Barrymore (cover shot) holding boxing globes up as a visual bra as she stands in a sparring pose in a boxing ring by Mark Seliger;

Elizabeth Shue nude holding a dog by Mark Seliger;

Patrick Swayze in a slip by Mary Ellen Mark;

Emma Thompson undressed but covered by the bottom of a stage curtain wrapped around her by Neil Davenport;

A puckish looking Hugh Grant by Jon Ragel;

Kato Kaelin in a swimming pool that magnifies the size of his torso by Mary Ellen Mark;

Jodie Foster laughing by Mark Seliger;

Ashley Judd as Marilyn Monroe wrapped in a sheet in bed by Mark Seliger;

Jason Priestley as an urban cowboy tough guy by Lance Staedler;

Whoopi Goldberg looking alarmed by Mark Seliger;

Helen Hunt half-wearing a man's white shirt with a wistful smile by Mark Seliger;

Sharon Stone looking like a 40's pinup or a 50's Playboy model with lots of fluff by Andrew MacPherson;

Julie Louis-Dreyfus spitting water like a fountain statue by Jon Ragel;

Garry Shandling seriously sitting in business attire in front of a burning desk he cannot see behind him by Mark Seliger;

Leonardo DiCaprio thinking in mismatched, outrageous clothing by Mark Seliger;

Kennedy wearing a veil, and using an arm and a hand to create modesty over an otherwise nude body in a take-off on the classic ways to pose nude women without being too revealing by Mark Seliger;

Smiling Rosie Perez by Dewey Nicks;

Sting in a bathtub with rubber duckies by Max Vadukul;

Siegfried and Roy doing an illusion by Mark Seliger;

Juliette Lewis featuring her face and the soles of her feet by Peggy Sirota;

Smiling Lisa Kudrow by Davis Factor;

Matthew Perry by Andrew D. Berstein;

Gamine-like Sandra Bullock by Kate Garner;

a funny, foreshortened Paul Hartman by Mark Seliger; and

David Schwimmer curtseying in a t-shirt and khakis.

"You are a vision of nowness" is the description of this book written inside. I personally found the images more timeless than that. You get a sense of what is universally appealing at all times and to almost all people.

After looking at these happy images, think about the ways that fun appeals to your better nature. How can you experience that kind of fun more often? How can you surround yourself with an environment that teems with such fun? How can you extend and share that fun with others?

Have a great giggle . . . as often as possible!

In this book, there are lots of pictures of celebrities. There is also a selection of quotes from celebrities. It is worth the money.

It arrived in a timely fashion and was in good condition. My customer was very pleased.

This book is a must read for anyone who is going on a short term mission trip. It reveals some things that you would never have thought of and helps you to change your thought process to better minister to others. READ this book.

Because of the way I was raised, my ESL training, and my experiences in Africa, it may be that I am actually better at "other world cultures" than the subtle but shattering differences in what the author refers to as "home culture." For me, this book is as much about relationships as it is about serving other cultures.

The author's willingness to expose his own shortcomings on this subject creates a comfortable atmosphere of receptivity rather than one of exhortation. This did not dilute the intensity of my need to change some foundational thought processes. He provides some practical tools to do just that!

I have not finished it yet, but each chapter builds the case for how to be effective in cross cultural settings. I would recommend this book as required reading to all who are going as short-term or long-term missionaries.

I am using Cross-cultural Servanthood as a training tool for sending a surgical team to Mexico. It is excellent for preparing our hearts and minds to serve. It doesn't just tell you to be a servant but it tells you how to be one. I have read many book on short term missions but this book rises to the top as a 'must read' before going on the field. Last year we used Elmer's book Cross-cultural Connections and it too had fresh new insights that challenged our team to think more deeply about the impact we may have in another culture.