A Faraway, Familiar Place: An Anthropologist Returns to Papua New Guinea
If only all social scientists wrote this clearly! This account of a return visit to a village in Papua New Guinea reads like a memoir, but through it you gain a vivid and affectionate picture of a way of life and the changes--economic, political, and religious--that have occurred over half a century, in a way that will make every reader respond with greater understanding to reports of the gains and vicissitudes of 'development' around the world. I really enjoyed it. --Mary Catherine Bateson, cultural anthropologist and author ofPeripheral Visions: Learning along the WayandComposing a LifeMichael French Smith has written an engaging and accessible account of returning to the site of his longterm field research, Kragur Island in the Sepik area of Papua New Guinea. As he has done before in two earlier books (of which A Faraway Place is a worthy companion), Mike has spun a great yarn. He possesses the admirable ability to translate personal experiences meaningfully and explains complex social phenomena in ways that the anthropologically uninitiated will understand and appreciate. He relates experiences that most anthropologists have had, but that others - students, social developers, those curious about the region - need to hear about....There is nothing quite like it on the market. --Richard Scaglion, Department of Anthropology, University of PittsburghAside from its use for students, the strongest contribution of the book is in the area of political anthropology or the political life of a nation state struggling with few resources to solve the same problems that all governments need to resolve. --Jack Weatherford, Department of Anthropology, Macalester CollegeSmith's book is a rare achievement: a readable, personal memoir that also provides a picture of Papua New Guinea that is accurate, nuanced, up to date, and a joy to read. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that with the publication ofA Faraway, Familiar Place,we now have the one book that everyone--tourists, naturalists, development workers, and industry executives--ought to read to understand the country. --Alex Golub,Bulletin of the Pacific Circle(No. 32, April 2014)Smith is an academic grandchild of Margaret Mead--a student ofher student Theodore Schwartz--and he emulates Mead's skills in writing well for general readers. Anyone interested in [...] faraway places grappling with global modernity will find the book both readable and informative.--Choice(51:4,December 2013)In a fascinating and entertaining account, anthropologist Michael French Smith unpacks the meanings and riddles of village life on the Papua New Guinea island of Kairiru. His storytelling is compelling, his insights profound and frequent. --Rowan McKinnon, writer and editor of the Lonely Planet guidesPapua New Guinea and Solomon Islands;South Pacific;Australia; and others.