The Critics: ‘Anthropology for Dummies’
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 10.09.08 | 1:07 PM ET
Before you rush out to buy this book to prepare for, say, a year living with a remote tribe in the Peruvian Amazon, consider Barbara J. King’s review of it on Bookslut. “Learning about Anthropology from Anthropology for Dummies,” she writes, “is like learning about other cultures by becoming a contestant on TV’s The Amazing Race.” Wait. You mean that’s not a good idea, either?
Related on World Hum:
* ‘The Amazing Race’: A Good Travel Show?
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Jim Benning is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Cameron M. Smith 10.20.08 | 7:32 PM ET
HI, I’m one of the authors of Anthropology for Dummies, and I have to say, King’s review is pretty uneven. She’s a life-long academic, and sees the book from the perspective of an academic; whereas I wrote the book (I wrote 95% of it, my coauthor wrote the other 5%) for the many, many people who simply don’t have the opportunity to go to college. I’m writing a reply to King’s review, but you might want to keep the points above in mind as you read her review :)
Regards,
Cameron M. Smith