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On the Fringe: Confessions of a Maverick Anthropologist
On the Fringe is a deeply-moving memoir, a reflective and soul-baring account of the author's extraordinary journey as a professional who helped people from dying of AIDS, cholera, and other diseases across the globe. As an anthropologist, Green worked on every inhabited continent, giving the reader an on-the-ground look at how we aid developing nations. Chapters take readers to one exotic locale after another, describing gypsies in Montenegro, sex workers in Tanzania, disease researchers in Bangladesh, spirit mediums in Africa, and Samaritans in Palestine. Though highly successful throughout his career, Green was plagued since childhood with insecurity, rebellion, and at times frightening depressions. Coming from a highly-privileged background—his father was an Assistant Secretary of State—his inner demons began, at an early age, to tell him he was no damned good, a fraud, and a failure. Anyone who has ever fallen victim to "the imposter syndrome" will relate to the author's lifelong struggle to overcome feelings of anxiety and incompetence and embrace his achievements.
315 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2023
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November 16, 2023*I do not rate memoirs.
ON THE FRINGE
𝙴𝚍𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙲 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗
10/19/23
🌎𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜:
On the Fringe is a deeply-moving memoir, a reflective and soul-baring account of the author's extraordinary journey as a professional who helped people from dying of AIDS, cholera, and other diseases across the globe. As an anthropologist, Green worked on every inhabited continent, giving the reader an on-the-ground look at how we aid developing nations. Chapters take readers to one exotic locale after another, describing gypsies in Montenegro, sex workers in Tanzania, disease researchers in Bangladesh, spirit mediums in Africa, and Samaritans in Palestine.
Though highly successful throughout his career, Green was plagued since childhood with insecurity, rebellion, and at times frightening depressions. Coming from a highly-privileged background-his father was an Assistant Secretary of State-his inner demons began, at an early age, to tell him he was no damned good, a fraud, and a failure. Anyone who has ever fallen victim to "the imposter syndrome" will relate to the author's lifelong struggle to overcome feelings of anxiety and incompetence and embrace his achievements.
🌍𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This is a captivating look at the life of Green who was first a child of a diplomat who traveled extensively and then became a highly regarded medical anthropologist who embedded himself into remote locations across the globe. As someone who loves to study I was so interested in the idea of studying a group of people and their culture for years on end. What a life! Also, as someone who grew up as the AIDS crisis was evolving and lost a family member in the early days I’m grateful to Green for getting involved where it was needed most.
The fact that Green suffers from imposter syndrome as one of the most influential and inspiring scientists in modern times is eye-opening. Don’t we all feel that at times?
🛖Thank you #partner @booksforwardpr for including me on this tour and @blackrosewriting for the review copy.
ON THE FRINGE
𝙴𝚍𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙲 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗
10/19/23
🌎𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜:
On the Fringe is a deeply-moving memoir, a reflective and soul-baring account of the author's extraordinary journey as a professional who helped people from dying of AIDS, cholera, and other diseases across the globe. As an anthropologist, Green worked on every inhabited continent, giving the reader an on-the-ground look at how we aid developing nations. Chapters take readers to one exotic locale after another, describing gypsies in Montenegro, sex workers in Tanzania, disease researchers in Bangladesh, spirit mediums in Africa, and Samaritans in Palestine.
Though highly successful throughout his career, Green was plagued since childhood with insecurity, rebellion, and at times frightening depressions. Coming from a highly-privileged background-his father was an Assistant Secretary of State-his inner demons began, at an early age, to tell him he was no damned good, a fraud, and a failure. Anyone who has ever fallen victim to "the imposter syndrome" will relate to the author's lifelong struggle to overcome feelings of anxiety and incompetence and embrace his achievements.
🌍𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This is a captivating look at the life of Green who was first a child of a diplomat who traveled extensively and then became a highly regarded medical anthropologist who embedded himself into remote locations across the globe. As someone who loves to study I was so interested in the idea of studying a group of people and their culture for years on end. What a life! Also, as someone who grew up as the AIDS crisis was evolving and lost a family member in the early days I’m grateful to Green for getting involved where it was needed most.
The fact that Green suffers from imposter syndrome as one of the most influential and inspiring scientists in modern times is eye-opening. Don’t we all feel that at times?
🛖Thank you #partner @booksforwardpr for including me on this tour and @blackrosewriting for the review copy.
November 29, 2023
A Life Well Lived
This book is a fascinating memoir of an anthropologist whose field studies took him to areas in South America where the indigenous people had never been studied. He was also in Africa and in a position to help when AIDS broke out with such vengeance. His career led him to study many areas and to learn so much from the indigenous people. Instead of bringing the bossy white man to 'civilize' them, he became one of them (as much as possible). That created a great learning experience as these tribes were not all that naive and tended to only show their expected lives and traditions, not what they actually had. He brought a new way to study societies to the world of anthropology. It is surprising that all of the Ph. D.s that were out in the field had not considered the partnership approach as a best method. He was in the field to see the effects of the plantation system, mineral mining, apartheid, and lives of freed slaves centuries later and to bring that to the world to see. This is a very long book, but I could have read another 200 pages to get more details about this man's life. The author writes smoothly and the subject matter is fascinating. I would enjoy being a fly on the wall when he and his buddies sit around and hoist a few.
This book is a fascinating memoir of an anthropologist whose field studies took him to areas in South America where the indigenous people had never been studied. He was also in Africa and in a position to help when AIDS broke out with such vengeance. His career led him to study many areas and to learn so much from the indigenous people. Instead of bringing the bossy white man to 'civilize' them, he became one of them (as much as possible). That created a great learning experience as these tribes were not all that naive and tended to only show their expected lives and traditions, not what they actually had. He brought a new way to study societies to the world of anthropology. It is surprising that all of the Ph. D.s that were out in the field had not considered the partnership approach as a best method. He was in the field to see the effects of the plantation system, mineral mining, apartheid, and lives of freed slaves centuries later and to bring that to the world to see. This is a very long book, but I could have read another 200 pages to get more details about this man's life. The author writes smoothly and the subject matter is fascinating. I would enjoy being a fly on the wall when he and his buddies sit around and hoist a few.
November 18, 2023
I found On the Fringe to be an interesting memoir with an author who is the son of a diplomat, living extensively all over the world. Green studied other cultures, and spent 20 months with the Matawai in the jungles of Surinam. Green also writes about his medical anthropology, with his focus on AIDS, traditional healers, and indigenous medicine. His memoir includes very personal details of his life and experiences while working around the world. This was a very fascinating memoir that I read in one day.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews