The Harmless People

Book Description

A study of primitive people which, for beauty of...style and concept, would be hard to match." -- The New York Times Book Review

In the 1950s Elizabeth Marshall Thomas became one of the first Westerners to live with the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert in Botswana and South-West Africa. Her account of these nomadic hunter-gatherers, whose way of life had remained unchanged for thousands of years, is a ground-breaking work of anthropology, remarkable not only for its scholarship but for its novelistic grasp of character. On the basis of field trips in the 1980s, Thomas has now updated her book to show what happened to the Bushmen as the tide of industrial civilization -- with its flotsam of property rights, wage labor, and alcohol -- swept over them. The result is a powerful, elegiac look at an endangered culture as well as a provocative critique of our own.

"The charm of this book is that the author can so truly convey the strangeness of the desert life in which we perceive human traits as familiar as our own....The Harmless People is a model of exposition: the style very simple and precise, perfectly suited to the neat, even fastidious activities of a people who must make their world out of next to nothing."

-- The Atlantic

Customer Reviews:

A firsthand, close-up view of a little-known and little-understood people.......2007-07-14

The Bushmen are well known - and intriguing - to phoneticians, because Bushman languages, along with Bushman-influenced languages such as Zulu and Xhosa, are the only ones in the world with linguistic clicks. As a teacher of phonetics, that was my own original motivation for reading this book. I also thought it would be useful background to have before visiting South Africa. Finally, I met a very friendly and kind Nama-speaking Bushman in Minnesota once, and that further piqued my curiosity about his home culture.

This book is truly a rich, firsthand resource on what traditional Bushman life was like in the 1950s. The Bushmen may be praised for their cleverness at being able to live in a land with very little visible water; but in this book you will learn that in fact many Bushmen died of thirst and hunger, not to mention disease, when times were unusually hard.

One half of the book is dedicated to each of two Bushman groups with whom the author and her family stayed for extended periods, the Gikwe, and the !Kung, of "The Gods Must Be Crazy" fame. It was fascinating to read about how they courted, married, divorced, gave birth, chose names, cared for children and the aged, went through puberty, gathered and hunted, interacted with animals, told stories, died, and dealt with the spirits of the dead. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Bushman music, e.g. singing accompanied by playing on the stringed guashi, the bow, and the te k'na (mbira/kalimba/thumb piano), and the ritual dancing that sometimes went with it. Thomas states that music is by far the strongest of the Bushman arts.

Mentions of some of the effects of intruding white people on the Bushmen's lives may give you pause. The Bushmen treated their white visitors with great openness and kindness. You can praise the generosity of the white chroniclers when they give gifts of food, clothes, and other useful items, and feel relieved when a formerly powerful hunter with a gangrenous leg is taken to be fitted with a peg prosthesis. Yet Thomas also mentions that some Bushmen had been tracked down and taken into slavery by people who had followed the tracks left by Thomas's family's vehicle on a previous visit. And other Bushmen had their guards down when whites came to kidnap them to do forced labor - the Bushmen welcomed them, expecting them to be as friendly and harmless as Thomas's clan.

Thomas goes to great pains to depict the people she observed as accurately and honestly as possible, consciously avoiding the "noble savage" trap. Bushmen shared everything - because it was expected and it would cause great jealousy, conflict and bad relations if they did not; they did not take anything they knew to belong to another; and they had a strong sense of family and cared for those unable to care for themselves. But they practiced infanticide if a baby was born while the previous one was still nursing, since there would probably not be enough milk for both to survive. They could also be vain, jealous and petty, and they could be cruel in razzing people with obvious weaknesses - like any other humans.

You will pick up new Bushman-specific vocabulary reading this book, including words like kaross (the skin wraparound which was a Bushman's usual attire), veld food, pan (a water hole), scherm, gemsbok, tsama melons, bi root, and tsi nuts.

Thomas includes two family tree diagrams at the front of the book to help the reader sort out the relationships between the characters in her accounts. I found these most helpful and referred often to them.

Beyond providing informative content, Thomas is an engaging writer. This is all the more impressive since she wrote the book in her early twenties.

Thomas's book is one of the very few sources of detailed information on the Bushmen. I read the original edition from 1959, so I haven't seen the updated parts on how the Bushmen were doing by the 1980s. Although a lot of what I've heard about Bushman societies today is rather negative and depressing, I look forward to finding out more, and hope the various Bushman groups manage somehow to preserve their remarkable languages and the best of their unique cultures and traditions.

bush people.......2007-03-01

a long slightly boring recitation of life with the bush people. there are flashes of very interesting insights about people and western civilizations impact on indigenous peoples.

Beautiful!!.......2006-03-07

I could hardly put the book down. The writings were simple and descriptive. I have always found Tribal life very interesting and of all the books I have read hearing the Author's firsthand account was amazing. Listening to the people's tales and day to day life is something I am going to miss now that I have finished the book.

A Fascinating Look at An Indigenous People.......2003-10-04

I read 'The Harmless People' for my anthropology class and I enjoyed it. I liked the writing style and the story kept me interested and learning the whole time.

Classic, well-written, and enjoyable study of the Bushmen.......2003-08-25

This is a detailed, fascinating, and even beautiful account of the author's field study of the Kung! Bushman. Along with the Australian aborigines, the Bushman of the Kalahari desert, who inhabit an arid tableland in southwest Africa, are considered one of the two most primitive cultures in existence. The Bushmen aren't native to the Kalahari but were forced there as a result of conflicts with the white man and other tribes after the 17th century. Thomas gives a detailed account of their way of life and how they are able to survive in one of the most desolate places on earth. The Bushmen are very short of stature, averaging only 4 feet, 10 inches tall, and their skin has a yellowish tinge that is different from the blacker skin of their surrounding neighbors. The Kalahari has no surface water, and the rare rainfall immediately dries up. One of the few ways they get moisture as well as food is the tsama melon, which grows underground. The tsama melons are so important that the rights to a particular locale are inherited, which is unusual among the Bushmen. To survive in this harsh environment, the Bushmen have become expert botanists and can identify over 300 different kinds of plants, and they hunt antelope with poisoned arrows. Marriage among the Bushmen can occur at a very early age, but for women it is considered inappropriate to become fully sexually active and to marry before the age of 12. After having been almost completely wiped out between the 17th and the 19th century through conflicts with other tribes and the white man, there are now about 50,000 Bushmen inhabiting the Kalahari.

Book Description

Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister, Shabanu is called upon to sacrifice everything she’s dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family’s honor—or listen to the stirrings of her own heart?

Customer Reviews:

the best.......2007-03-28

A Girls Life and Future

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about true life. I loved

this book because I have seen the pain of being married off at the age of 13.

I recommend this book to mature readers because of the descriptive words and

sentences. Shabanu keep me reading and it was impossible to put down.

ZZZZZZ.......2007-03-23

This book stinks. It's about a 12 year old girl named Shabanu who lives in the desert of Pakistan. Her life as been perfect since she was born, taking care of the camels, climbing thorn trees, and running free in the desert. But when an evil landowner murders the person her older sister Phulan was betrothed to. Now she must sacrifice everything she's dreamed of to save her family. Sounds like a pretty okay plot, right? WRONG! This book tries to make you hate it. It's boring, depressing (her life really sucks), and repetitive. There are some really good parts, but they are just drowned out by the badness of the book. And worst of all, it just ends. The plot actually starts getting thicker, but it just stops. It's like: Shabanu did this, Shabanu did that, Shabanu did thi-The end. The moral of the story: don't read this book.

This book is good and bad!.......2007-03-04

This book really changed my life. I was assigned to read this book, and Haveli in 7th grade. Shabanu shows a strong, defiant, girl trying to grow into her womanhood. There is a lot of tragedy for her and her family in this book, and there is a lot of talk about breast size and sex in this book, so if you haven't had "the talk" yet, you probably don't want to read this. I felt that the ending was a little stupid, and it felt like the author ran out of paper or something.
All in all, this book has its good and bad moments.

Shabanu Got On My Nerves.......2007-01-07

Okay, I had to read this book for my Freshman English class, for our unit on the Middle East. I had already read the one by an Arabic author, and reading this, you could tell it was by an American. It was a total cliche: Shabanu is an oppressed girl in Pakistan. Shabanu does not like this. Shabanu complains about being oppressed. Shabanu "rebels" against oppression. Shabanu is beaten. Shabanu cries.
The end.
I've met Pakistani girls before, and they're nothing like Shabanu. They're proud to be Muslim- they are proud to follow the rules of their faith.
Shabanu, however, is not proud. She never stops whining about it.
And then the ending bothered me, too. It was just such an obvious set up for a sequel, it totally disgusted me. It wasn't even much of an ending, really. It's almost like she just chopped the chapter off short and stuck it in the next book.

a lovely heroine, a lovely novel.......2007-01-01

I first read this book as a girl in junior high. As a woman grown, and approaching motherhood, I would like my daughter to read this book when she is old enough. It is a story about a strong-willed, independent young woman who must learn to reconcile her duties with her own impulses. It is a coming of age story, but an unusual one because it is set in the wilderness of the desert plains in Pakistan. Shabanu is not meek or powerless in the iconographic way of Arab women. She is a spirited and warm young woman. But the limitations of her culture force her to grow up, and she must find the ballast within herself to maintain her sense of identity while bowing to the outside demands of her culture.

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van der Post right on
I Loved the Book Anyway
A book filled with love and dignity
Should come with warning label
More About Van Der Post than the Bushmen

The Lost World of the Kalahari
Laurens van der Post
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156537060

Book Description

An account of the author’s grueling, but ultimately successful, journey in 1957, through Africa’s remote, primitive Kalahari Desert, in search of the legendary Bushmen, the hunters who pray to the great hunters in the sky.

Customer Reviews:

van der Post right on.......2007-06-27

Laurens van der Post is frequently and correctly cited for his effusive language and exaggerations, but this account of the Bushmen and their environs is fairly close to the truth and makes great reading. I ordered this copy to replace the one I lent to my professor of African Studies at the Air Force War College (which he kept). He thought it was one of the best expositions of the life and circumstances of the bushmen and based on my limited knowledge from classwork on the subject it seems to be on target.

I Loved the Book Anyway.......2007-05-25

It has been twenty years since I read this book, but it left a strong impression on me for its beautiful writing and images. In spite of what the one Amazon reviewer said, I would still recommend the book for its adventure and wonder, even if it is not an entirely true story. Just keep in mind that it might have a big dash of fiction. In a strange way, though, it makes the book even more interesting.

The one Amazon reviewer said, "Anyone who is thinking about reading this book should know that VDP was a major BS artist. Very good at it too, was a friend of royalty and also Jung. If you can find it, read J.D.F. Jones "Storyteller: The Lives of Laurens Van Der Post". To his credit, he did oppose apartheid."

Behind any book, there is often a very strange reality.

A book filled with love and dignity.......2004-10-07

An older friend of mine met Laurens Van der Post in Australia and described him as "a wonderful man." A large part of the joy of reading "Kalahari," his best-known book, comes from the experience of his transparent honesty and honest heart. His writing style is as wonderful as the man was--unpretentious, without "side," and ever positive and life-affirming. Van der Post did a fine service in revealing how trivial and unconnected our modern traits of cynicism and meaninglessness appear before the Bushmen's selfless creed. This is one of the great books of pilgrimage.

Should come with warning label.......2002-01-08

Anyone who is thinking about reading this book should
know that VDP was a major BS artist. Very good at it too,
was a friend of royalty and also Jung. If you can find it,
read J.D.F. Jones "Storyteller: The Lives of Laurens Van
Der Post". VDP was constantly reinventing himself. Many
of his stories about everything from his war record to
his Bushman connections were exaggerated or just plain
invented. People loved to hear this stuff about the great
white hunter, the ancient heart of Africa, blah blah blah.
To his credit, he did oppose apartheid.

If you want an readable book on the Bushmen, try Elizabeth
Marshall Thomas' "The Harmless People". At least she actually
knew them!

BTW The film is called "The Lost World of the Kalahari",
BBC 1958. Don't know if you can get it on video. A better bet
would be "Kalahari Desert People", by John Marshall.

More About Van Der Post than the Bushmen.......2001-11-13

Laurens Van der Post is one of those writers -- at least on the evidence of this book -- for whom it is not enough simply to master his material; he also has to dominate it. His descriptions and accounts of the bush of Southern Africa are indeed compelling. Unfortunately, they are far too often buried under considerably less interesting material. I wanted to see and hear a whole lot more of the Kalahari and the Bushmen and a whole lot less of Van der Post's incessant insistence on his relation to the desert, his relation to the Bushman, his troubles with the cinematographer he hired to photograph his search. Also, this book was written in 1959, in the United States a time well before the Civil Rights movement and in Southern Africa a time of apartheid and white colonialism. Van Der Post is very much a man of his era and the book is replete with paternalism and grousings about the black porters in his expedition. Finally, his leadership is abysmal. He takes his party to a huge swamp in the Okavango where to any casual observer the elusive Bushman (Bushman, Laurens, not Waterman) would be least likely to be found. This gross miscalculation takes up well over a third of the book and must have sorely tried the patience of those in his expedition even more than it tried the patience of this reader. In fairness, for those unfamiliar with the Bushman and the Kalahari and Okavango of Southern Africa, this book does serve, despite Van der Post's flawed, and heavy-handed writing.

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.Sands Of Life Time
ALL TEACHERS MUST READ IT!
Life in the desert.

The Desert Is Theirs
Byrd Baylor
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689711050

Book Description

You may think of the desert as a harsh, dry place where no one would ever want to live -- but think again.

The Desert People know. so do the animals. Both love the land, and "share the feeling of being brothers in the desert, of being desert creatures together."

Byrd Baylor's spare, poetic text and Peter Parnall's striking illustrations lime the sky, stone and sand of the desert in this haunting book.

Customer Reviews:

.Sands Of Life Time.......2007-07-26

The Desert story is beautifully depicted, wonderfully written, enjoyed and gives a vivid insight into life stories and cultures.
I have purchased and read many of "Byrd Baylor's" books. Read them to grandchildren and also read them to very elderly frail folk in nursing home care and been very much enjoyed by all.

ALL TEACHERS MUST READ IT!.......2000-11-14

HELLO, I AM 24 AND I WILL START TEACHING ON JANUARY. I WILL USE THIS BOOK WHEN TALKING ABOUT ANIMALS AND NATURE. IT IS A USEFUL BOOK FOR GRADES 4TH AND UP BECAUSE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND THE MESSAGE IN POETIC FORM. A MUST READ BOOK! I RECOMEND IT HIGHLY. I AM USING IT NOW FOR MY CHILDREN'S LITERATURE CLASS.

Life in the desert........1999-05-17

This children's book describes the animal- and plant-life found in the desert in the southwest U.S., including the Papago Indians. Children learn more about what it is like to live in such an environment. The book was illustrated by Peter Parnall and was a 1976 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

Papunya: A Place Made After the Story: the Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement

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Papunya: A Place Made After the Story: the Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement
Geoffrey Bardon , and James Bardon
Manufacturer: Lund Humphries Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0853319472

Average customer rating:

Funny and a good lesson
Fantastic bedtime story!
Wonderful story for preschool and elementary aged children!

Why Cowboys Sleep With Their Boots on
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565540948

Customer Reviews:

Funny and a good lesson.......2007-07-30

My three year old grandson and five year old granddaughter loved the story and the illustrations. We read the story three times in a row and they loved the anticipation of seeing which animal was creeping up next.

Fantastic bedtime story!.......2005-06-11

My 4 year old son loves this book! He dreams of being a cowboy one day, and this book just makes him giggle! I woud recommend this to anyone who has kids that like cowboys or silly stories. I also read this at a Library pre-school reading hour and it was a big hit! 5 stars and then some!

Wonderful story for preschool and elementary aged children!.......1998-05-15

My children (ages 3&4) loved this book! We rented it so much from the local library that it was well worth the money to buy it.

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Poetic writings and lovely illustrations
Excellent and Interesting for young children

Welcome to the Sea of Sand
Jane Yolen
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0399227652

Book Description

"Only Jane Yolen could write such a wonderful and poetic tribute to the beauties of the desert, where there is constant amazement to be found....Regan's paintings are inviting and breathtaking." --American Bookseller

"A poetic narrative that invites readers into Arizona's Sonora Desert through a collaboration of art and words, and gives a comfortable armchair tour of a beautiful, rugged, surprisingly varied place." --School Library Journal, starred review

"Words and pictures on the opening page portray the desert as an ocean of sand and rocks, but the remainder of this book shows another side of the desert, one teeming with life." --Booklist

Customer Reviews:

Poetic writings and lovely illustrations.......2003-09-30

Beautiful illustrations of desert plants and animal life with short but eloquent descriptions. Dispelling the myth that deserts are barren and lifeless, the author and illustrator show the desert teeming with life. Birds and animals not mentioned in the text but shown in the illustrations are listed at the back of the book. This is a wonderful quick read to round out learning about life in the desert. The life in this desert seems to be that of the southwestern United States and there is a reference to find more information through the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Excellent and Interesting for young children.......2001-10-20

Welcome to the Sea of Sand, is an excellent informational book for younger children. It shows children that the desert can be a home for many types of wildlife and plants. It also has fun facts listed that impress children and who knows, maybe will impress adults too!

The Heart of the Hunter: Customs and Myths of the African Bushman

Average customer rating:

The great divide
Good beginning but goes no where
Feel the passion, hear the experiences of the Bushman.

The Heart of the Hunter: Customs and Myths of the African Bushman
Laurens Van Der Post
Manufacturer: Harvest/HBJ Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156400030

Book Description

The author’s passionate concern for Africa and for the human spirit is evident in this portrait of the “First People” of southern Africa, the Bushmen. Van der Post describes his desert travels, the splendid landscape and wildlife, and his encounters with the Bushman, an elusive culture. Drawings by Maurice Wilson.

Customer Reviews:

The great divide.......2004-07-16

I again with the earlier reviewer who pointed out the noticeable difference between the first part of this book and the latter; when Van der Post is recounting his experiences with the Bushmen (or San, if you prefer) and with various other folk who have come to inhabit the Kalahari the book is very interesting and informative. However, in the second half he feels the need to reinterpret the Bushmen's legends or myths through a Jungian perspective, a treatment I found neither compelling nor convincing. While the fragments of the Bushmen's tales are interesting and Van der Post's ruminations are occasionally thought provoking, I didn't particularly enjoy his technique of intercutting between a few sentences of the one and heavy doses of the other. I suppose that for the reader who cares to interpret everything by archetypes and quests it might prove intriguing, but I soon came to find it rather annoying and distracting.

Good beginning but goes no where.......2000-03-16

This is a decent book because I love anthropology, ethnobotony, and learning about the Bushman. The beginning of this book was great, the author discusses how he and his group fall upon a thirsty group of Bushman. That part is great because it describes the interactions between the author and the Bushman. One of the author's mate on the trip, Dabe, a Bushman himself, also offers amazing commentary when they run into the Bushman.

However, in the middle, who knows what is going on. And the end was so confusing, but sorta okay. Van der Post discusses Bushman creation tales which are good in themselves because most books overlook the spiritual aspect of the Bushman--but the tales need more explanation--Van der Post talks over your head and says things don't need an explanation when they really do.

I would recommend reading 'Nisa, The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman' and 'The Harmless People' which both can be purchased online here!

Feel the passion, hear the experiences of the Bushman........1999-02-06

Sir Laurens van der Post has a gift for story telling that we should all explore. The customs and myths of the Bushmen are simple, complex, spiritual, entertaining but always there is a lesson to be learned. This book will feed your mind and you will find yourself through Laurens' craft eager for more. If you have shut down your heart and your imagination, feel the beat of this book and get your pulse back.

Four Corners: History, Land, and People of the Desert Southwest

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Remarkable book on the Land. the People and Its Mysteries
Excellent intro to the land and people of the SW US
Four Corners
An eloquent, detailed overview of the Colorado Plateau

Four Corners: History, Land, and People of the Desert Southwest
Kenneth A. Brown
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060927593

Book Description

In this masterful tour de force of nature writing, Kenneth Brown explores one of the most awe-inspiring regions on earth -- the Four Corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Weaving together its geological, ecological and human histories, he presents a unique portrait of this ruggedly beautiful landscape that goes beyond mere description to give readers a true sense of the land in all its richness. Here are rock croppings that are 2 billion years old and broad desert valleys where rivers of lava cooled to form floors of solid rock. Here ancient hunter-gatherers stalked the woolly mammoth, four-story pueblos were carved by the Anasazi from sheer stone cliffs and an ancient midnight Holy Week ceremony is still practiced in a modern Spanish village.

Providing a fresh perspective on a region currently enjoying an upwelling of interest, Four Corners is a fascinating study of one of the world's great wonders -- compelling reading for all science, nature, anthropology and travel aficionados.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable book on the Land. the People and Its Mysteries .......2007-07-22

If anyone has been to the Four Corners area, particularly the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, you will appreciate the author who takes you well beyond those more obviously known pleasures and takes you into more remote and attrarctive parts of the large four corners area giving the reader an introduction to geology while explaing in the initial chapyers how the land and continent was formed. The books goes on to discuss each area, its rock formations including mountains, plateaus and valleys and the vegetation that makes each area unique. The author includes interviews with numerous specialists throughout the book along his own personal journey through these ares that he hikes and camps and spends time in some very remote areas. His discussion of the people that once lived on the land and the ones that currently do provides a human linkage to present day. The mystery of the Anasazi is quite fascinating as these ancient cliff dwellers disappaered around 1400 AD but may have become part of the present day Hopi tribe. The description of their cliff like fortess dwellings and the archelogical studies is one of the most interestiung parts of the book. Why did they live along a cliffs in large communities and what happened to them? The book is not a quick read but one that deserves patience to appreciate the indepth descrptions that Brown provides. The only downturn, which is very slight, is that the author has little tolerance for tourists that in his opinion, along with the specialist he meets, strongly feel that tourists overwhelm these sensitive sites. However, for one who loves to travel these wonderful places with great respect for the sensitivity of the environment, we must all do our part to try to rein in those few that unfortunatey create a negative impact no matter where they visit or live.

Excellent intro to the land and people of the SW US.......2006-03-29

This is a fascinating account of the land and people of the Four Corners region of the southwestern US. Brown is as interested in the geology of the region as he is in the settlers of it. The book is basically divided into five large sections, one for each major point on the compass and a fifth entitled "Center." He begins each section with a thorough discussion of its geology. From there he proceeds to the peopling of each section, from the early hunters and gathers to the Anasazi, Spaniards, and Mormons. His long sub-section on the Anasazi is especially good. One thing Brown makes clear is that, unlike the "politically correct" view held by many today, the Americas were not a Garden of Eden before European contact was made. Native tribes fought ferociously with one another over land and resources; even slavery was practiced among the tribes. And after the disastrous Pueblo uprising of 1680 that virtually emptied the country north of the Rio Grande of all Spanish inhabitants, the Spanish realized they would have to cooperate with the Natives to insure security and success.

Brown is an excellent writer and captures the uniqueness of the desert Southwest well without going into rapturous (and phony) doggerel. He is a "loner," however, relying on historical records or scientific textbooks for most of his information, and rarely brings along another geologist or historian to hash out information. (This being the case, it's surprising that there is no bibliography included.) Even his own personal observations, other than a few camping/hiking scenes thrown in here and there, are kept to a minimum. Some might object to this impersonal approach, but it didn't bother me at all. The book is interesting and informative - an excellent overview of the desert Southwest.

Four Corners.......2002-05-31

As a native of Utah and a student of the geology and natural history of the Colorado Plateau, this is without a doubt the best available summary of the fascinating heritage of the Four Corners region. I've read the paperback edition from front to back twice and parts of it three times. I recently managed to find a copy in hard back in excellent condition that I've added to my collection of keepers, and I'll read it again before I make my next trip to southern Utah. It astonishes me that I have yet to find this book at any of the national park bookstores. This book is very highly recommended for anyone with an interest in or planning to visit the most remarkable region of the continental United States. It's a great introduction to so many facets of this awesome area! In my opinion, it communicates the flavor of the country as well as John Wesley Powell's classic documentary of the first formal exploration of the Colorado River. Don't miss this one.

Michael Shea, MD

An eloquent, detailed overview of the Colorado Plateau.......1999-11-01

This book deserves a less prosaic name. With an engaging writing style, Kenneth Brown provides a knowledgeable and highly readable introduction to the natural and human history of the Colorado Plateau, including the geology, forests and biological life zones, and the Anasazi, Pueblo, Navajo, Spanish, Mormon, and recent Anglo influences. I'd highly recommend Four Corners to anyone with an interest in this fascinating region.

Average customer rating:

Enlightment
Another wonderful book by Waris Dirie
Desert Dawn Review
Untouchable
Too much content repeated from Desert Flower

Desert Dawn
Waris Dirie , and Jeanne d'haem
Manufacturer: Time Warner Books UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1860499627

Book Description

Fashion model, UN ambassador, and courageous spirit, Waris Dirie is a remarkable woman. Born into a family of tribal desert nomads in Somalia, she told her story in the worldwide bestseller Desert Flower: enduring female circumcision at the age of 5; running away through the desert at 12 to escape an arranged marriage; being discovered by photographer Terence Donovan as she worked as a cleaner in London; and becoming a top fashion model. Although she fled Somalia, she never forgot the country or the family that shaped her. Desert Dawn is Waris Dirie’s profoundly moving account of her return to her homeland. As an international model, Waris Dirie was the face of Revlon. In 1997, as part of its campaign to eliminate female genital mutilation, the United Nations appointed her Special Ambassador for Women’s Rights in Africa. She now lives in New York with her son.

Customer Reviews:

Enlightment.......2007-07-05

This book show me the incredible journey that Ms. Dirie went through. And no matter how she lived throughout her life she could not forget how she was raised. Great book

Another wonderful book by Waris Dirie.......2007-04-02

Waris Dirie is my favority author. I think she writes honestly about her life experiences and gives a different perspective than the average writer does. I would recommend everyone read this book.

Desert Dawn Review.......2005-08-12

This book was most useful to me by showing the life of a tribal family in Somalia from the viewpoint of someone who has experienced western life but is still sensative to the viewpoint of tribal nomadic life. It provides a really interesting insight rarely seen.

Untouchable.......2004-06-15

Once started to read I just couldn't stop. Just so amazing how Waris was caught between her home in somalia and New York. I support her courage

Too much content repeated from Desert Flower.......2004-05-09

Desert Flower was a fantastic book giving insight into a culture that blindly follows old fashioned and cruel rituals. Desert Dawn however repeats most of Desert Flower and just gives a bit of additional information about the further life of Waris. Sadly enough Waris has not learned much from her own mutilation, which she documents in circumcising her own son. Waris seems to forget that women play an important role in culture and rituals through upbringing and education of their own children. Circumcision and mutilation is not in nature's nor in any god's plan, otherwise they would have taken care about it.

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