Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa

Rating:
Summary: A Different View
Review: As I have taken several classes from Dr. Dettwyler at Texas A&M University, I have a bit of a different view on this ethnography. She is an extremly interesting woman, and her passion for her field is amazing. This shines through in Dancing Skeletons, and I feel that despite it's "scientific" value it is a great source for understanding a culture. This is what Anthropology is all about.

Rating:
Summary: A Different View
Review: As I have taken several classes from Dr. Dettwyler at Texas A&M University, I have a bit of a different view on this ethnography. She is an extremly interesting woman, and her passion for her field is amazing. This shines through in Dancing Skeletons, and I feel that despite it's "scientific" value it is a great source for understanding a culture. This is what Anthropology is all about.

Rating:
Summary: A vivid narration of children malnutrition in Mali.
Review: Dancing Skeletons is perhaps one of the most interesting ethnographies I've come across. It's narrative style aid the reader in becoming more interested by the contents of the book. It's a charismatic narration; the reader gets a sense of the darker and lighter aspects of Malian society. It's weakness as an ethnography is the prevalence of an etic point of view. Even so, I highly recommend the book to those who are interested in the subject of malnutrition and growth problems in children.

Rating:
Summary: nice reflection on time spent in the field
Review: Dettwyler tells the story of her anthro work in Mali, and it is certainly an interesting read. But there is a tone throughout that is just kind of whiny. Definitely not an ethnography, although I'm not sure it was intended to be, but more of an account of what it is like to do work in rural villages. This is a nice easy read and should give some insight on village life in this part of west Africa, but the book shifts focus quite a bit and the author's tone grows a bit tiresome as the book goes on, but don't let that deter you if you are interested in this subject. Not great, but definitely worthwhile...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to African life
Review: I am a college student and just finished reading this book for my Anthropology class. I feel it is very weel written and I learned many things I had no idea about from this book. Unlike a text book teaching you, Katherine is taking her audience on a ride through Africa with her. I recomend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I am a college student and just finished reading this book for my Anthropology class. I feel it is very weel written and I learned many things I had no idea about from this book. Unlike a text book teaching you, Katherine is taking her audience on a ride through Africa with her. I recomend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to African life
Review: I am not an anthropologist but a tourist who has visited Africa and is interested in learning more about African people. I found Katherine Dettwyler's book an excellent introduction to how real people live and deal with their lives in Africa. Dettwyler tells us how mothers and children interact, the way families view their children, what day-to-day life in rural Africa is really like. I found it fascinating especially because Dettwyler talks honestly about her reactions to what she found. This book shouldn't be restricted to anthropoogy students.

Rating:
Summary: A helpful insight -- personally AND academically
Review: I found this book to touch me as a person, while reaching me on an academic level at the same time. It is rare to find an ethnography that engages you as a reader, keeping your interest, that also gets the scientific point across. I found Dancing Skeletons to be one of these rare finds. It's an excellent source of information that also captures your attention on a personal level.

Rating:
Summary: A helpful insight -- personally AND academically
Review: I found this book to touch me as a person, while reaching me on an academic level at the same time. It is rare to find an ethnography that engages you as a reader, keeping your interest, that also gets the scientific point across. I found Dancing Skeletons to be one of these rare finds. It's an excellent source of information that also captures your attention on a personal level.

Rating:
Summary: Good book read for an Anthropology course
Review: I had to read this book, and a less then enjoyeable textbook, for a cultural anthropolgy course I just got done taking. This book presents various concepts important to anthropological field work in an interesting and an understandable way. Often times reading the examples found in Dettwyler's book, helped me understand some of the concepts "defined" in my other text. I personaly recomend it to anyone taking a course concering cultural anthropolgy or anyone wondering how anthropologists do field work in foreign places.