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Rating: 
Summary: Another world is revealed...
Review: I am a graduating student of Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon who was assigned to read this book for a Cultural Anthropology class. Much to my surprise, this book has become a real page-turner!I never thought I'd have a hard time putting down a textbook. Chagnon's insightful, and more importantly, personalized account of his experiences living among an Amazonian tribe is riveting. He is graphic and provides the kind of realistic detail that is rarely encountered in a textbook - at least none that I've come across so far. He pulls no punches, either in his descriptions of the cultural mores of the Yanomamo, or relating his own struggles and disagreements with his anthropological colleagues. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about other cultures, and what motivates humans to behave as they do. This is not just a book for college students or those working in the Anthropology field. I am a Business Management major, but I find the insights this book gives on the human condition to be invaluable. It is always important to be able to see the world through other people's eyes, and Napoleon Chagnon makes that possible through this book. What better recommendation can I give, but that I will definitely not be selling this book back to my college bookstore, but rather adding it to my personal library!
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Summary: Chagnon is an awesome professor of anthropology.
Review: I took an introductory cultural anthropology class taught by Chagnon at UC Santa Barbara, and I must say that he was one of the best professors I had during my 4-plus year tenure as a Gaucho.
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Summary: How do the Yanamamo see Chagnon?
Review: In every way this is a very interesting topic. University of Michigan anthropologist, Napoleon Chagnon has written a very readable monograph concerning the Yanomamo people of southern Venezuela. The Yanomamo live near the Orinoco River and prior to Chagnon's "discovery" this tribe was virtually untouched and isolated from the outside. Before buying this book, you need to have a reason for reading it. Students of the social sciences and anthropologists would be remiss to not read this book. It is an outstanding look at a wonderfully fascinating group of people. And for this reason, I would highly recommend it
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Summary: A well written account of a very interesting group of people
Review: Most introductory ethnographies--descriptions of a variety of cultures--drag on and on. Napoleon Chagnon's Yanomamo is different. From his less-than-ideal first encounter with a dozen warriors who greeted him with bows drawn, to a Jaguar's breath as a wake-up call at 3:00 a.m. in the middle of a jungle, Chagnon takes his readers through one (mis)adventure after another. Still, Yanomamo is far more than an ethnographic thriller depicting a tribal people in southern Venezuela. Chagnon describes in detail the Yanomamos' seemingly exotic practices--the rule that a tribesman should marry his classificatory cross-cousin, or the abduction of women that invariably sparks a war, or a chest-pounding duel at any feast that might prevent an all-out battle from breaking out amid the festivities. More, he explains the significance of these (for us) strange practices: for example, marrying your cross-cousin is a very good way to keep your village together. (Read and find out how.) For more than 20 years, I have used successive editions of this text for my introductory anthropology courses. Indeed, Yanomamo is among the most widely adopted ethnographies at the college freshman level. This book is a readable yet solid piece of scholarship, one that many students will keep long after the finals are over.
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Summary: Informative but controversial
Review: This bestseller ethnography is praised for its detail; Chagnon is praised for unprecedented geneological and geographical data. Chagnon has spent many decades living with these people and collecting data. Cultural ecology, subsistence and political organization seem to be his strengths, but the text is exceedingly masculine. It can be criticized for ignorning women, those with less power, and power differential. The author's depiction of the Yanomamo as warlike and fierce is argued as overdone and jeapardizing of the wellbeing of the Yanomamo. Prior to Chagnon they were a mostly uncontacted people and since they have been enculturated, devastated by mining, and have lost respect due to their fierce reputation. Very thought provoking, informative and controversial, this 260 page ethnography is a must read for anyone interested in the field of anthropology.
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Summary: a different culture [in danger]
Review: this book is a good introduction to the Yanomamo people of the Amazon rainforest, in Venezuela & Brazil. There's so much literature on these people; this book really is just an introduction. One thing Chagnon communicates very well in it is how terribly tragic he thinks what's happening to them now is, with western influence, especially in the last chapter. Anyway the way he writes is great.
Rating:
Summary: a different culture [in danger]
Review: this book is a good introduction to the Yanomamo people of the Amazon rainforest, in Venezuela & Brazil. There's so much literature on these people; this book really is just an introduction. One thing Chagnon communicates very well in it is how terribly tragic he thinks what's happening to them now is, with western influence, especially in the last chapter. Anyway the way he writes is great.
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