Maasai

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book!
Review: Extremely well written and the pictures are just incredible! I went to Kenya last year and met several Maasai during my safari; this book captures every facet of their intriguing life. If you don't think you will ever make it to Africa and are interested in the ways of life of the Massai, then this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly acurate portrayal of the Maasai and their culture
Review: Maasai, is a wonderful book. It is filled with colorful and vivid photographs. In addition to the incredible photos, the book shares the sheltered Maasai culture with the outside world. This book provides the reader with an unimaginary view of the "tall, proud and aristocratic" tribesmen. Upon completion, you will appreciate their culture like you never imagined possible.

Rating:
Summary: One of the "prized" books of my library
Review: This book is beautiful. It has beautiful photography, and beautiful text by a man who is of the Masai tribe. I was sad, however, to read that the author of the text (Tepilit Ole Saitoti) says that the Masai way of life is destined for extinction. Though this is inevitable for most indigenous peoples.

Tepilit Ole Saitoti's commentary and insight into his people really make the photographs come to life (the cover photograph is of the author's brother). This is not so much a book as it is an experience, aided by its "over-sized" coffee table format book that gives you the feeling of "stepping" into the beautiful Kenyan landscape. Reading this beautiful book is the next best thing to being able to visit this beautiful land and see these fascinating people in person (which is something I hope to do at some point in my life). What a beautiful land the Masai live in!

Anyone interested in this book would probably find OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT interesting as well. OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT is written by Malidoma Some of the Dagara tribe from Burkina Faso, in West Africa. It is the story of Malidoma's escape from a missionary school (he had been kidnapped), journey back to his village as a teenager, and initiation into the Dagara tribe.

Rating:
Summary: Maasai
Review: This is a (not surprisingly) beautiful and very accurate portrayal of Maasai life. It was written by Teplit Ole Saitoti, himself a Maasai straddling a modern lifestyle, with that of an elder in his home village. Carol Beckwith is one of the most sensitive and talented "human anthropology" photographers the world has ever known. She gets photos no one else can, by living the villagers' lifestyles. The result of the collaboration is the view of Maasai life from within.

Buy anything you see her name on. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A vivid pictography of the Maasai
Review: Wonderfully captured, the Maasai people's culture, lifestyle and pride are yet another statement of our world's diversity and similarities. From the drinking of cow's blood to the rites of passage to warriorhood, this book does a wonderful job of taking us to a new level of understanding