Includes bibliographical references and index.

Anthropological perspectives : Doing fieldwork among the Yanomamo / N.A. Chagnon ; Lessons from the field / G. Gmelch ; Eating Christmas in the Kalahari / R.B. Lee -- Culture and communication : Whose speech is better? / D.J. Napoli ; Fighting for our lives / D. Tannen; "I can't even open my mouth" / D. Tannen -- Organization of society and culture : Understanding Eskimo science / R. Nelson ; The Inuit paradox / P. Gadsby ; Ties that bind / P.M. Whiteley -- Other families, other ways : When brothers share a wife / M.C. Goldstein ; Death without weeping / N. Scheper-Hughes ; Our babies, ourselves / M.F. Small -- Gender and status : Bersache tradition / W.L. Williams; Woman's curse? / M.F. Small ; Where fat is a mark of beauty / A.M. Simmons -- Religion, belief, and ritual : Eyes of the Ngangas, ethnomedicine and power in Central African Republic / A.C. Lehmann ; Ancient teachings, modern lessons / D.A. Taylor ; Adaptive value of religious ritual / R. Sosis -- Sociocultural change, the impact of the West : Why can't people feed themselves? / F.M. Lappe and J. Collins ; Arrow of disease / J. Diamond ; Burying the white gods, new perspectives on the conquest of Mexico / C. Townsend.

This [book] contains a variety of articles on contemporary issues in social and cultural anthropology. In contrast to the broad range of topics and minimum depth typical of standard textbooks, this anthology provides an opportunity to read firsthand accounts by anthropologists of their own research.... The articles have been chosen ... for the purpose of supplementing the standard textbook in cultural anthropology that is used in introductory classes. -Pref.