The wittiest introduction to the life of a social anthropologist ever written. Studying in the Cameroons for his first experience of fieldwork, Barley discovers that the society of the Dowayo people refuses to conform to the rules of his new discipline. Although set amongst a little-known tribe in the Cameroons, this slim volume reaches out to a vast audience who would otherwise never look at a travel book about West Africa, let alone an anthropological field study. A seminal text for any student in search of a laugh. Witty, hilarious and unconventional, but also a remarkable intellectual achievement; Barley manages to turn the western science of anthropology on its head, so that for once the laugh is on the professional practitioners not the observed.

奈吉尔·巴利 (Nigel Barley)，牛津大学人类学博士，前大英博物馆民族志学组附属人类博物馆（Museumof Mankind of the Ethnography Depar tment ofthe British Museum）馆长。著有 Dancing on theGrave、Not a Hazardous Sport 、Ceremony、TheDuke of Puddle Dock、Smashing Pots 等书， 并为Channel4 电视台编写、主持Native Land 影集。

译者 何颖怡，政治大学新闻研究所硕士，美国威斯康星大学比较妇女学研究员。曾任联合报系记者编辑与编译、水晶唱片创意总监、台北之音与爱乐广播电台主持人，目前是商周出版选书顾问，并专职翻译。著有《风中的芦苇》、《女人在唱歌》。翻译作品有《嘻哈美国》、《嘻哈黑话字典》、《摇滚神话学》、《乳房的历史》、《太太的历史》、《在美国》、《西蒙波娃美国纪行》、《安妮强的烈焰青春》、《冬日将尽》、《第四级病毒》等。