Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

I love, love, love this book. I initially read it for a college class in anthropology, but after reading many other ethonographies and ultimately getting my degree in anthropology, Nisa remains one of my all-time favorites. Nisa is a classic in the field, written by Marjorie Shostak of her field work in the 60's and 70's on of !Kung people in Souther Africa through the narrations of one !Kung woman, Nisa. The !Kung are significant in anthropology because they are one of the few peoples in the world that maintain a modern hunter-gatherer lifestyle (at least at the time of Shostak's fieldwork). Thus, they represent a lifestyle that human beings have lived for thousands of years dating back to the earliest hunter-gatherers. It's how we lived for the majority of our evolutionary time, and thus modern hunter-gatherers shed precious light on humanity's origins. Unlike most ethnographies and most social science texts more broadly, Nisa is primarily informed by one voice: Nisa's. The book consists of interviews conducted over time between Shostak and Nisa with the purpose of Nisa bestowing her own knowledge upon Shostak as a younger woman about what it means to be a woman. Each chapter chronicles a period of Nisa's life, which she tells to illustrate not only her own stories by central truths and life lessons. Of course, these are all according to one person, an older woman with a lifetime of lived experience through the lens of her own culture. Topics include growing up, marriage, taking lovers, being a mother, and losing those closest to you. Shostak begins the book with a long introduction describing the !Kung people and putting their culture into context for Western readers, including the !Kung language, traditions, family structures, group dynamics, migration, diet, etc. Then each chapter begins with an introduction to the topic based on Shostak's fieldwork with the whole community followed by Nisa's individual stories and insights. Overall, Nisa is an enigmatic, funny, unique, talented, and captivating storyteller selected by Shostak as narrator for these very reasons. This book is a treasure, and is certain to teach readers much about human truths according to one incredible woman. It's a must-read for anyone interested in womanhood, culture, modern hunter-gatherer societies, African peoples, anthropology, and human kind.

Love this book. Where else could you get a narrative from a culture that is prehistoric and in the matter of a couple of decades heads into the 20th century, not to mention a woman who bares her soul. Nisa crosses all cultural and time barriers and most woman will recognize themselves in her.

Purchased this book for an anthropology class. It was one of the better books that I've read this last quarter, if not my career as a student. On the other hand, if you are not interested in different cultures, there is nothing wrong with that, then you will not like this book. It is best to read this book with an open mind and try your best not to be ethnocentric. Meaning that certain topics of the book are taboo in our culture, but it is accepted in their culture. According to this book, the !Kung from Botswana live a very interesting and different [to our own] lives. Majorie Shostak did a great job writing this ethnography, and really capturing the voice of "Nisa". Recommended for the person who likes traveling to learn and understand culture.

It came exactly as described and looks pretty much new. I needed this for a college course so it was a great cheap option and works perfectly

Nisa talks a great deal, but somehow the inner life of the !Kung is never revealed. A trance state is referred to throughout the book, but what does it feel like when one is "trancing"? One dies and goes to some indeterminate place "up there"? I realize it is impossible for a European to live like a !Kung among the !Kung because of the wide economic disparities and the tradition of gift exchange (among the many problems the author acknowledges right from the start of the book) but a deeper look into their interior life would have been welcomed.Despite Nisa's stilted language, which may be the fault of the translator, there is much to learn here.

i loved 'nisa'. i've read a lot of books in my life - in four different languages, all kinds of topics, in recent years mostly scientific ones. with this i mean to say, it was not easy for 'nisa' to break into top five of all the books for me.but it happened.'nisa' changes the way you feel like a women: about men, about raising childrean, about life in general.'nisa' puts things in a different perspective. in the perspective in which we have spent 99% of our time on earth, so i think it is OK if i call it 'right perspective'. thank you marjorie shostak, i am sad that you died, but hope your book and your scientific papers will live forever.

Highly satisfied

Very informative

We'll never know if the words and meanings are really those of Nisa. If, yes, then she's a wonderful human being, and with perhaps the last of the hunter-gatherer tribes. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

not finished it yet - but very interesting so far.

a wanderful very interesting book

Shostak provides good solid information on the culture of the !Kung which is very useful background, especially were one new to this people. However, the real gem in this work are the thoughts and words of Nisa. With clarity and unselfconscious authenticity Nisa paints a portrait of her life and her people. Not only does the reader learn of their ways and world-view, but the reader is also drawn to question their own biases and judgements. An extremely worthwhile read for anyone who would understand the human condition better.

Bought as a textbook for class, was great! Came right away