North America Books

The conservative, european-american movement's declaration of the end of white supremacy in this country requires the kind of challenge offered by "Whitewashing Race". This book offers every fair-minded reader an opportunity to judge the realities that still persist as a consequence of 250 years of chattel slavery, 100 years of complete segregation, lynchings and restrictions on work and educational opportunities. The efforts needed to create a truly non-racialized culture in America are far from over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyone who fears the possibility of mining interests encroachinginto the wilderness will understand the real threat thatfaces the Native American "hero" of Wolfsong. With an Abbey-like view to Monkeywrenching when the time is right, Tom Joseph learns to set his priorities and do some great backpacking up the Suiattle River in the process. This is Owen's first novel, begun in 1975 when he was a Wilderness Ranger in the Washington Cascades. There still is a valid copper claim on Miner's Ridge, north of Glacier Peak. This is a scary story; it could really happen.

This book combats the usual conservative white male destruction of the enviornment, and offers instead a compelling look at the incredibly brave and noble traditions of Native Americans and their conservation efforts. Copper mines are not usually something I could care about, but this book challenges the assumption of the domineering white patriarchal culture, and I for one am grateful.

This is not a politically correct book.

It challenges ideas of Native "authenticity" and gives short shrift to out-of-town environmentalists (rather shorter shrift than I entirely agreed with, in fact). When Tom decides to act against a copper mine, he does so not out of simplistic ideological purity but because of a complex of reasons, largely having to do with his own identity. (And he was uncritically working as a logger before that.)

Nevertheless, this is a profoundly environmentalist novel, with intensely beautiful descriptions of wilderness. It's an environmentalist novel because of the unbreakable connection it creates between humans and their environment and because of its challenge to the ideals of short-term profit. (At the same time, the problems of poverty are never glossed over.)

Owens wrote beautifully and incorporated stunning passages of magic realism. Tom is a believable character--confused, irresponsible (college drop-out), lonely, fierce, and ultimately heroic in the same way animals are in those old Western novels where wolves and mustangs leap off cliffs rather than be captured.

It is the "forks" in the river and the road for the citizens of Forks, a small town which perviously had logging money running through its veins, but now it is considering an infusion of mining dollars as the mills close down. Native American Tom Joseph returns home to attend his uncle's funeral and to unconsciously assume the mantle of trickster and to learn what drove his uncle to acts of ecoterrorism and monkeywrenching. Readers will get a true feel for the temperate rain forests of Western Washington while reading this novel, and may be tempted to don a slicker or their climbing boots by the time it is finished. Owens lets the reader decide many of the outcomes in this novel, though the meaning is always clear, the humor is rampant and the small town was probably a role model for Northern Exposure, right down to troubled sexy waitress and a fly bouncing around in the pie case.

For wilderness supporters, this book is a horror story. The book is based on the very real possibility that a copper mine could be opened with the attendant roads and carnage, on Miner's Ridge, north of Glacier Peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. Congress left a loophole big enough to drive a front-end loader through when the Wilderness Act was passed. The road isn't there yet, but Owens' vision is remarkably clear. Take heed, and enjoy

Wolfsong is a cautionary tale of what could potentially happen in the North Cascades. Congress conveniently neglected to ban mining in wilderness areas where old claims were established. This is Owens' cry of alarm: don't even consider mining in places like this. Wolfsong is told through the eyes of a local Native American, Tom Josephs, who inherits the mantle of protector of this sacred place from his uncle. Funny, insightful, true to the environment and the community, this book deserves a place on the shelf next to Desert Solitaire and the Monkey Wrench Gang

Using diaries, log books, letters, and other narratives, the editor has woven an anthology of women and their stories about life on the Great Lakes from the late 1700s until the present day. There is also a strong emphasis on the Native American women's accounts of their lives and activities. Of special interest to me were the accounts of women lighthouse keepers and women who worked on the ships that navigate the Great Lakes. This book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in women's literature and/or the Great Lakes.

Lighthouse keepers, fur traders, cooks, wives and mothers - women from all walks of life have traveled to the Great Lakes region over the past 200 years.

Some stayed only a short time, others made interesting and often challenging lives. Their stories, collected by Grand Valley State University Professor Victoria Brehm in The Women's Great Lakes Reader, reveal a wide range of voices and experiences, from the poetry and travelogues to letters and diary entries about life in mining camps and homesteads around the shores of these vast bodies of water.

Among several dozen chapters are the polished words of novelist Constance Fenimore Wilson, who committed suicide at age 54, after becoming a popular and successful author. Weaving narrative into rich and vivid scenic detail, Wilson puts herself in the shoes of Roxana, who follows her husband into the west.

Brehm also includes brief but fascinating Chippewa tales penned in English by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, daughter of a fur trader and a Native American woman who married explorer Henry Schoolcraft.

Written from 1789 to present day, each of the stories in this collection holds a unique place in women's history. Best of all, The Women's Great Lakes Reader reflects a diversity of women's voices and reinforces the timeless notion that no one voice speaks for us all.

I found this book to be extremely informative and entertaining. It enlightened me about the history and culture of the region, and looked at both aspects from a more feminist point of view. An excellent read for pleasure or education. I will definitely read it again.

The Women's Great Lakes Reader is an impressive, informative, superbly presented contribution to women's studies, native American studies, regional and Midwestern history studies. Victoria Brehm has assembled an outstanding contributors writing on the theme of women's roles in the cultures, development, and history of the Great Lakes region of the American Midwest organized into five major sections: Anishinaabeg: The First Peoples of the Lakes; Women Pioneers on the Frontier; Women Travelers on the Lakes; Women's Work; and Women's Lives, Women's Lakes. Of special note is Judith Minty's "The North Woods" (1981) which serves admirably as an introduction to the wealth of informative, insightful, and engaging commentaries comprising The Women's Great Lakes Reader which make this work a seminal contribution for personal and academic studies.

As opportunities for woman waxed and waned on the frontier of the Great Lakes of the 1800s, those few who performed jobs restricted to men were forced back into a patriarchal society that determined their roles more suited to hearth and home, "quelled by the anti-feminist rhetoric of the 1920s and the diminished opportunities of the 1930s". Harriet Colfax, a thirty-seven-year old lighthouse keeper of the Michigan City, Indiana, lighthouse in 1861 shined more than a figurative beacon on the wilderness landscape. In the late nineteenth century, gender roles were fluid in the Great Lakes region, allowing women to assume occupations formerly reserved for men. For a time, the frontier gave women access to well-paying positions as fur traders, cooks on lake's ships and travel writers. East Coaster's were avid readers of "local color", post-Civil War tales of wilderness travels by women who returned from their adventures to write of their exploits, delicious escapist reading for those concerned with urban sprawl, immigration and the inexorable advance of the Industrial Revolution.

Industrialization and the changes it wrought altered the landscape of women's opportunity, bringing with it restrictions of class and gender long familiar to "cultured" society, but in these tales, albeit briefly, women are the putative masters of their own fates. The Women's Great Lakes Reader honors those women who took the risk and journeyed into the unknown, achieving in this vast wilderness what they were denied in professions at home, an escape from the domesticity assigned to them, relying on their wits for survival in a genderless landscape. These narratives avoid the stereotypical stories of nation-building and development, the standards of a male perspective, written from the female point of view, "they tell us less about mastering a landscape and more about adjusting to it", perhaps the most important lesson in preparing for the future.

From "The First People on the Lakes", "Women Pioneers on the Frontier", "Women Travelers on the Lakes", "Women's Work" and "Women's Lives, Women's Lakes", these selections range from the Indian settlers of the early 1800s to a spiritual midlife journey in the 1990s. Here the voices rise from a distant past to join with the present in profiles, narratives, essays, stories and poetry that emerges from the common experience of a life-changing region, women in communication with nature, forging unique identities in a wilderness that refuses to be tamed. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

Deftly compiled and professionally edited by James Treat (Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Illinois), Writing The Cross Culture: Native Fiction On The White Man's Religion is a provocative and somewhat iconoclastic anthology of writings based upon the Native American cultural transformation and adaptations of the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Featuring works ranging from satire to philosophy, Writing The Cross Culture presents a creative collective interpretation of the significant occurrences in the Native American culture as impacted by Christianity. Writing The Cross Culture is very strongly recommended to students of Native American history and literature as a quite unique perspective on an often neglected aspect of contemporary Native American culture.

Deftly compiled and professionally edited by James Treat (Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Illinois), Writing The Cross Culture: Native Fiction On The White Man's Religion is a provocative and somewhat iconoclastic anthology of writings based upon the Native American cultural transformation and adaptations of the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Featuring works ranging from satire to philosophy, Writing The Cross Culture presents a creative collective interpretation of the significant occurrences in the Native American culture as impacted by Christianity. Writing The Cross Culture is very strongly recommended to students of Native American history and literature as a quite unique perspective on an often neglected aspect of contemporary Native American culture.

Deftly compiled and professionally edited by James Treat (Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Illinois), Writing The Cross Culture: Native Fiction On The White Man's Religion is a provocative and somewhat iconoclastic anthology of writings based upon the Native American cultural transformation and adaptations of the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Featuring works ranging from satire to philosophy, Writing The Cross Culture presents a creative collective interpretation of the significant occurrences in the Native American culture as impacted by Christianity. Writing The Cross Culture is very strongly recommended to students of Native American history and literature as a quite unique perspective on an often neglected aspect of contemporary Native American culture.

Deftly compiled and professionally edited by James Treat (Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Illinois), Writing The Cross Culture: Native Fiction On The White Man's Religion is a provocative and somewhat iconoclastic anthology of writings based upon the Native American cultural transformation and adaptations of the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Featuring works ranging from satire to philosophy, Writing The Cross Culture presents a creative collective interpretation of the significant occurrences in the Native American culture as impacted by Christianity. Writing The Cross Culture is very strongly recommended to students of Native American history and literature as a quite unique perspective on an often neglected aspect of contemporary Native American culture.

Deftly compiled and professionally edited by James Treat (Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Illinois), Writing The Cross Culture: Native Fiction On The White Man's Religion is a provocative and somewhat iconoclastic anthology of writings based upon the Native American cultural transformation and adaptations of the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Featuring works ranging from satire to philosophy, Writing The Cross Culture presents a creative collective interpretation of the significant occurrences in the Native American culture as impacted by Christianity. Writing The Cross Culture is very strongly recommended to students of Native American history and literature as a quite unique perspective on an often neglected aspect of contemporary Native American culture.

Jeff Girvan has done what has been overlooked for over 150 years; he reveals the valor and honor of the common soldier over the over-inflated previously recounted feats of Picket's command. Namely, that the common farmers-turned-soldiers from Cleveland County (and environs) of southwestern North Carolina fought as valiantly as any of the units representing the CSA. In a clear, concise and well-documented account he presents factual data as well as the human side of the Southern Cause in this great conflict. You'll enjoy this quick read and keep this as a ready reference for descendants of these gallant men.

I have read several regimental and general Civil War histories, and Jeffrey Girvan's is up there at the top. His narrative is very readable, and the roster and unit listings of those killed in action, missing, and those that died from disease are helpful for any one interested in the 55th NC. The narrative tells the story of a regiment from Gettysburg to Appomattox, but also has information on the little known battle for Washington, NC that occurred in September 1862, and the Sufolk campaign. Girvan's use of primary sources provides the reader with a better understanding of what it was like to fight in the Civil War. The every day camp life, but also the combat. As one man from the unit says about Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg it was like being in "the jaws of death." Also, the description of the 55th and Heth's division on May 5, 1864 in the Wilderness is exceptional. One can feel the desperation these men must have felt after being assaulted numerous times and out numbered 4 to 1. Col. Belo, then commander of the 55th hears of his brothers death during the battle but must keep commanding his troops and is almost forced to order a bayonet charge when the men run out of amunition.A great read!! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War.

I have read many Civil War books, including regimental histories like Pullen's 20th Maine and J Girvan's book about the 55th North Carolina ranks as one of the best. The 55th did not join Lee's army until after the great string of victories, but was there for Gettysburg and, although green, was able to prove its worth. So many exciting incidents stand out in this book. On July 1st the 55th was one of the first on the field, and the regiment's youthful leader Colonel John Kerr Connally wanted his men to prove themsevles to their brigade (which except for the 55th NC wer all unit's from Mississippi under the command of President Davis's nephew Joesph R. Davis) As his men moved forward their color bearer was shot and Connally, wanted to motivate his men, picked up the regimental standard and charged only to be shot several times and severally wounded. When asked if he needed help the brave colonel's response was to instruct his men to keep going and not to let "the mississippians get ahead of you."
The 55th would again face death at Gettysburg on the third day when they participated in the famous charge, and several officers from the unit would be credited with going farther than any other. Again during the Overland campaign the 55th would find themselves in desperate figthing throughout the summer and fall of 1864, and finally to surrender, all 83 left of more than 1000 when the regiment was formed in May 1862, with Lee at Appomattox. But this book is more than a chronical of battle it is a story of the men who fought and sometimes died for the Southern cause. After reading Mr. Girvan's book I gained a better understanding of what it was like to serve in the Army of Northern Virginia. Some men fighting with their fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the life of the Confederate soldier during the Civil War.

This is one of the best regimental histories I have ever read. Girvan's use of primary sources provided a better understanding of what is was like to serve in Lee's Army. Also, the battles covered in the book were described very well, especially the battle for Washington, NC, and the Suffolk campaign, which are two engagements I knew little of before. Gettysburg was a watershed for the Confederacy, but also for this regiment. The 55th NC went in with little experience, but proved their worth by participating in some of the battles bloodiest engagements. Again during the Wilderness the 55th found it self in a tight spot, and after numerous assaults by Federal troops was low on amunition. Colonel Belo, whose own brother had just been killed during the day's battle was prepared, as Chamberlain at Gettysburg, to order a bayonet charge, but relief came. For anyone interested in Civil War regiments, soldier life, and seeing a battle from the eyes of the combat troops I highly recommend this book. J Johnson

I have admired Gloria Steinem since I came to this country in the 70's to go to college. She has had to make some tough choices in her life and I respect her greatly for the path she took. I particularly liked to read about her early years, her childhood and family, prior to the more public New York life of the sophisticated writer and feminist persona she became. After reading this book, I feel that I understand much better where her strong motivation came from. The author deserves much praise for this biography.

I read this book nonstop while on a lengthy car trip. I found it to be incredibly interesting, informative, well-researched, and enjoyable to read. If you've ever wondered how Gloria Steinem got to be the icon that she is, this book explains it all. Whether you are researching Steinem or just looking for an interesting non-fiction, this book is for you!!

A sympathetic biography of one of the most famous leaders in the women's movement. According to Heilbrun, Steinem's beauty and ability to remain constantly in the public eye have been a constant source of irritation to other feminists. She presents Steinmen as a slightly naive, well-intentioned and empathetic individual who never intended to lead the feminist movement and indeed would have preferred remaining in the shadows as a reporter and writer.

Growing up in the early 80's, I had a vauge idea who Gloria Steinem was and what she did. I was delighted to pick up this book and read the first (and probaly most accurate)book on such a revolutionary leader.

Denounced by the extreme right and extreme left, Steinem's life has taken her from Ohio to Massachusetts to India, Washington DC and NY. Having cofounded Ms. the National Women's Political Caucus, the Women's Action Alliance and Voters for Choice, Steinem is truly an example of a good role model.

Heilbrum's superb prose takes us into the infamous resentment born by Betty Friedan and Kathie Sarahchild. Although both of these women are famous in their own right, their inexcusable and childish tantrums undid their own feminist reputation without any help from Steinem. Also deserving of their repuation is Betty Harris who's paranoid delusions and lax work ethic jepordaized the working environment at the early MS. Steinem is a saint for having dealt with these crazies and still keeping cool.

If you think you'll ever want to plan a trip either by car or motorcycle to the great state of Alaska, this book is a must-have. Not only does provide everything you could ever ask for, it comes in a small package that packs away nicely.

I recently rode my motorcycle up the Alaska Highway and space was pretty limited. I photocopied pages out of various other books, but brought this one along intact.

It stayed in my tankbag every day, was brought out at every meal, and was pored over in hotel rooms at night. I'm also a writer, and my Adventure Guide to the Alaska Highway became my de facto notebook on the trip -- post-it notes of every color peek out from its pages; notes line the margins.

There are a finite number of places to stop along the Alaska Highway; most guidebooks will give you pretty much all of them. What makes this one different is its tone. The authors obvious enjoy both the road and writing about it. Personal anecdotes are lightly sprinkled into the text, giving the impression that yes, the authors know what they're talking about. I learned little bits of history about the areas I rode through; not so much that it weighed down the book, but just enough to pique my interest and send me scampering to the library once I got back.

Also, the book is laid out very well. The font is easy on the eyes; bold section headers made it easy to find what I was looking for, even while balancing the book on my tankbag after pulling to the side of some gravelly road in the middle of nowhere.

While the Milepost will give you every pullout and scenic view on the highway, this book is great reading about what to do, and what to see on your way. The information is very accurate and intresting. In this book, when you look up a certain place you end up reading on and on.

I took this book with the AAA guidebook on my trip to Alaska, read the AAA intro on the plane there and read only this book for the rest of the trip. We traveled more than 2,000 miles on the Alaska Highway. This book has been a great companion and guide book wherever we go. I even did some more reading on the plane back home because the writing was interesting. It may be partly because Alaska is such an interesting subject; but the book is definitely fun to read.

"...intended for the adventure-minded travelers with special affection for the outdoors and nature. Each Adventure Guide packs in outdoor-oriented activities set in different regions. There's something for nearly everyone." Midwest Book Review

"[Adventure Guides] direct you away from the theme parks and into the great outdoors... the information on trekking routes, canoeing, wildlife refuges - even golf courses - is well researched." The Sunday Telegraph

This exciting update covers Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Northern Georgia. Outdoor activities, plus craft hunting and fairs. All the information you need for an activity-filled vacation. Maps. Index. Photos.

"Recommended for visitors who want to research a trip ahead of time and take the book along for repeated reference. An outdoors-oriented guide which includes all the best fishing spots, hiking trails in largely uncharted areas and whitewater rafting. An excellent guide." The Bookwatch

Rubenstein's book does two things at once: It provides an insightful look into the life of the Shuar healer Alejandro Tsakimp, in which many of the complexities of this person (and the Shuar people) are presented to the reader. At the same time, Rubenstein confronts the issues of representation -- he introduces himself and explains his relationship to his subject and the representation he is making -- then steps away and allows Alejandro to tell his story.

I found this book both interesting and useful for those two reasons -- as a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the Shuar people and as a model of dealing with the critical issues of representation confronting authors (and readers) across a wide range of studies.

This book is a serious anthropological work about an indigenous Ecuadorian Shaman. I had no difficulty reading the book as a layperson. Dr. Rubenstein puts a lot of himself into the book and is upfront about his friendship with Alejandro. I liked how he confronted the ethical and objectivity issues inherent in a study involving people. He lets Alejandro Tsakimp tell the story of his life. Much of the book is dialogue from interviews of Alejandro which allowed me to draw my own conclusions about what it might be like to be Shuar and a shaman in modern Ecuador.

I enjoyed the book. I thought it was clear, expressive and well-paced. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in South American culture. It would also be an excellent resource for anyone considering working with Shuar people as a Peace Corps volunteer or with an aid organization.

This is a serious anthropological book. I was extremely impressed by Dr. Rubenstein's intellectual discussions, his research methods, and his careful approach to his informants as well as his sensitivities to and sincerity for his informants during research and writing. He is honest with his readers. In ethnographic works like this, especially ones involving different cultures, I have observed that authors tend to paint the stories heard in their own cultural colors and speak for their informants instead of allowing the informants to speak their own voices. However, in this book, the author makes sure that the readers clearly hear Alejandro's and other informants' voices and their telling their own stories.

This is a must book for students majoring in anthropology, especially graduate students. Dr. Rubenstein reviews and includes the work by anthropologists in the past such as Malinowski and Radcliff-Brown and engages his reader in great discussions about various issues in anthropology. Because the author explains each issue clearly and systematically, even a person like me, a professor of communication, who has no formal anthropological background and whose mother tongue is not English, could understand the major discussions in anthropology identified in this book. In addition, because the author deals with various issues in academia and in life, readers can apply the knowledge they gain from this book into various fields. For instance, in terms of the issue about colonizer and colonialism, this book made me think about what happened to the farmers in my own neighborhood in Japan after WWII and during 1970 when new land policies were enforced.

This book will make a useful textbook in ethnography, anthropology, or methodology. This book also will aid anyone who is interested in life history, cultural and cross-cultural studies, spirituality, politics and colonialism, social change, history, South American culture, and cross-cultural and intercultural communication. I think more communication scholars, especially the ones who conduct qualitative researches or who teach intercultural communication, should read this book.

Rubenstein's book (about Alejandro Tsakimp) intrigued me because it initially confronted many of the fallacies of the written word. I felt that it was extremely thoughtful of the author to address these anthropological and literary issues, and he succeeded in heightening my awareness of the anthropologist as a lens through which the "subject" (Alejandro) is seen, thus allowing Alejandro to retain his dignity as a subject with a voice of his own.
Rubenstein, in the tradition of Briggs and Belmonte, strives to capture the quintessence of his subject(s) yet cannot ignore the fact that he is, inevitably, a part of his subject's (Alejandro's) tale; he (Rubenstein) is conscientious in admitting to the reader that he is the medium through which Alejandro's story must pass. I view his honesty as one of his many strengths.

Unlike any other ethnography I have read, Rubenstein allows us to hear Alejandro's stories in his own words (at length). I believe that Rubenstein uses the first 4 chapters to prepare us for this framing of Alejandro's life, so that we may understand it (Alejandro's life) in terms of itself, and not through the mind of an anthropologist. We eventually see the irony in this framing of Alejandro's story, because of the interconnectedness of all things; all things and events bleed across their supposed boundaries and the reader understands that nothing is an isolated incident. I was forced to understand Alejandro in terms of his context.
Alejandro's tales reveal the confusion created by the confluence of two cultures. In order to protect themselves from state infringement, the Shuar create a Federation which only seems to further indoctrinate them into a state-level society through bureaucratic representation. The reader has to decide whether the cultural plight of the Shuar exhibits symptoms of ethnocide or a sort of ethnogenesis.
In addition, Alejandro's powerful story is further riddled with the perils of being a shaman and facing the duality of one's power, the power to kill and cure.
In the end, the most enduring thing about Rubenstein's book is his honest and cleverly constructed commentary on the human condition and Alejandro's "quixotic determination to live in that world, to reflect on it and thus, necessarily to reflect it. In this reflection the space betwen history and culture, and the myths people -not just anthropologists but Shuar and colonos and even Alejandro himself- hold about culture unravel. And in this unraveling, Alejandro is just a shuar, just a person, living the best he can."

I believe that Rubenstein's book would be of considerable interest to anyone fascinated by the indiginous peoples of South America or any serious student of anthropology (or even english major interested in literary theory).
However, this book is accessible to anyone who's willing to spend a little time with it. There are so many issues swimming within the pages of Rubenstein's book that you won't have to read far to find something of interest.
Anyone with a sense of humor can appreciate Alejandro's stories, yet Rubenstein's book is not an easy read. It will make a reader think, but it's (the book is) well worth the extra effort.

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world