Tales of the YanomamiHardcover, 26 April 1985

The Yanomami Indians of the Venezuelan Forest are to some extent known already to the outside world through the books that have been written, and the films that have been made about them. In this book, Jacques Lizot allows the Indians to speak for themselves. The result is a rich, evocative and intimate account of the way in which they perceive, and feel about, their world. Presented in the form of stories told by a few key Yanomami individuals, the book offers little analysis, but instead leaves it to the reader to develop his or her own interpretations. It will be valuable for teachers and students of anthropology, both for the new and well-documented ethnographic material it contains, as well as for its alternative approach to writing ethnography. It is also unique in the way in which it conveys the atmosphere, talk, noise, smells, images, and flavour of Amazonia and its Indians, and it will therefore appeal to any reader interested in the world's contemporary non-industrial peoples.