Nisa

The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

ISBN 9780674004320

Publication date: 11/14/2000

Marjorie Shostak

This classic paperback is available once again—and exclusively—from Harvard University Press.
This book is the story of the life of Nisa, a member of the !Kung tribe of hunter-gatherers from southern Africa’s Kalahari desert. Told in her own words—earthy, emotional, vivid—to , a Harvard anthropologist who succeeded, with Nisa’s collaboration, in breaking through the immense barriers of language and culture, the story is a fascinating view of a remarkable woman.

Praise

When I reread Nisa, as I have done regularly in teaching over the years, I experience its originality, poignancy, and excitement afresh each time. Few books that were so influential in changing the look and feel of ethnography for entire generations of anthropologists have held up so well. It is a classic, with currency and continuing possibility.

—George Marcus, Professor of Anthropology, Rice University
[A] scrupulous, sad, exciting book.

—New York Times
We have a remarkable anthropologist to thank for an absorbing account.

—New York Review of Books
Both Nisa and Shostak are unusual people, and their collaboration has resulted in an unparalleled account of !Kung life from a personal rather than social or ecological perspective. Even more important, their work results in a revelation of the universality of women's experiences and feelings despite vast differences in culture and society. Nisa helps us know what it means to be !Kung, to be a woman, and finally, to be human.

—Choice
Nisa is a humbling and inspiring book.

—Tim Jeal, Wall Street Journal