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The Way Around Lib/E: Finding My Mother and Myself Among the Yanomami
Rooted in two vastly different cultures, a young man struggles to understand himself, find his place in the world, and reconnect with his mother and her remote tribe in the deepest jungles of the Amazon rainforest in this powerful memoir that combines adventure, history, and anthropology.
My Yanomami family called me by name. Anyopo-we. What it means, I soon learned, is long way around: I d taken the long way around obstacles to be here among my people, back where I started. A twenty-year detour.
For much of his young life, David Good was torn between two vastly different worlds. The son of an American anthropologist and a tribeswoman from a distant part of the Amazon, it took him twenty years to embrace his identity, reunite with the mother who left him when he was six, and claim his heritage.
"The Way Around" is Good s amazing chronicle of self-discovery. Moving from the wilds of the Amazonian jungle to the paved confines of suburban New Jersey and back, it is the story of his parents, his American scientist-father, and his mother who could not fully adapt to the Western lifestyle. Good writes sympathetically about his mother s abandonment and the deleterious effect it had on his young self; of his rebellious teenage years marked by depression and drinking, and the near-fatal car accident that transformed him and gave him purpose to find a way back to his mother.
A compelling tale of recovery and discovery, "The Way Around" is a poignant, fascinating exploration of what family really means, and the way that the strongest bonds endure, even across decades and worlds."
My Yanomami family called me by name. Anyopo-we. What it means, I soon learned, is long way around: I d taken the long way around obstacles to be here among my people, back where I started. A twenty-year detour.
For much of his young life, David Good was torn between two vastly different worlds. The son of an American anthropologist and a tribeswoman from a distant part of the Amazon, it took him twenty years to embrace his identity, reunite with the mother who left him when he was six, and claim his heritage.
"The Way Around" is Good s amazing chronicle of self-discovery. Moving from the wilds of the Amazonian jungle to the paved confines of suburban New Jersey and back, it is the story of his parents, his American scientist-father, and his mother who could not fully adapt to the Western lifestyle. Good writes sympathetically about his mother s abandonment and the deleterious effect it had on his young self; of his rebellious teenage years marked by depression and drinking, and the near-fatal car accident that transformed him and gave him purpose to find a way back to his mother.
A compelling tale of recovery and discovery, "The Way Around" is a poignant, fascinating exploration of what family really means, and the way that the strongest bonds endure, even across decades and worlds."
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First published November 3, 2015
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About the author
David Good
1 bookDavid Good is the son of American anthropologist Kenneth Good and his ex-wife Yarima, a member of the Yanomami tribe in Venezuela. He is the founder and executive of The Good Project, a nonprofit dedicated to "[supporting] the education, healthcare, and preservation of the Yanomami through intercultural and participatory perspectives."
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
David^^^Good
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
David^^^Good
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 11, 2025
3.5 stars
Maybe it’s the power of low expectations, but I enjoyed this memoir. David Good has a unique story, being the son of an anthropologist and an Amazonian tribeswoman. He was raised in the U.S., though after a few years his mom had enough and went home. He grew up denying his roots and had a troubled adolescence, but as a young adult managed to travel to the jungle to reunite with his mother and her relatives, getting to know the culture via a couple of extended trips to her village.
So that’s a fascinating story, and the storytelling is good—compelling and smoothly-written. Good worked with a ghostwriter, but this doesn’t feel like the simplified, TV-movie version of his life that I tend to expect in that situation; it is vulnerable, thoughtful and nuanced, and gives a sense of the author’s voice. I was engaged throughout and read the book very quickly, always interested to learn what would happen next. If anything, I would have liked to know more—about how Good managed to emerge from his early-20s funk, about his mother’s life after returning to the jungle (he’s very discreet about the provenance of his younger half-brother)—but I think he reached the limits of what he was able to share, and from his discomfort with the media attention focused on his family throughout his life, we’re lucky to have a memoir at all.
That said, it is the kind of memoir people write in their 20s, still figuring things out and still very close to the events they’re describing. It’s messiest when he writes about the clash between Yanomami and western lifestyles. He goes whole hog on cultural relativity, defending (albeit rather confusedly) the Yanomami practices of publicly gang raping unprotected women and forcing weeping young boys to beat each other with sticks, while seeming to dismiss prenatal care as an unnecessary westernism. He is also under the impression that the Yanomami lack inner lives, which comes up repeatedly and is a wild claim to make about any group of people (this recent book explores how little we know of others’ inner lives even within our own culture), and especially one whose language he only speaks a few words of. As far as I can tell his conclusion appears to be based on their straightforward, practical style of communication, their lacking the concept of money (worrying about which, from the author’s emphasis on this point, perhaps constitutes a large portion of his own inner life?), and the fact that once he settles into a long visit, the author himself tends to get into a flow state where he lives entirely in the present. While that’s great for him, these trips are a vacation from his real life and his inner experiences of them say little about those of the Yanomami themselves. There’s certainly a lot to say about cultural differences in emotional experience and physical and mental health (links are to books I recommend on these subjects), but this is clearly not Good’s lane and he stumbles whenever he tries to enter it. That said, the anecdote in which one of his local “wives” heals his eye injury by squirting her breast milk directly into his eye is wild and also apparently legit: breast milk has antibacterial properties and can be applied topically to various injuries.
At any rate, I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this, but it’s worth picking up for anyone interested in the topic.
Maybe it’s the power of low expectations, but I enjoyed this memoir. David Good has a unique story, being the son of an anthropologist and an Amazonian tribeswoman. He was raised in the U.S., though after a few years his mom had enough and went home. He grew up denying his roots and had a troubled adolescence, but as a young adult managed to travel to the jungle to reunite with his mother and her relatives, getting to know the culture via a couple of extended trips to her village.
So that’s a fascinating story, and the storytelling is good—compelling and smoothly-written. Good worked with a ghostwriter, but this doesn’t feel like the simplified, TV-movie version of his life that I tend to expect in that situation; it is vulnerable, thoughtful and nuanced, and gives a sense of the author’s voice. I was engaged throughout and read the book very quickly, always interested to learn what would happen next. If anything, I would have liked to know more—about how Good managed to emerge from his early-20s funk, about his mother’s life after returning to the jungle (he’s very discreet about the provenance of his younger half-brother)—but I think he reached the limits of what he was able to share, and from his discomfort with the media attention focused on his family throughout his life, we’re lucky to have a memoir at all.
That said, it is the kind of memoir people write in their 20s, still figuring things out and still very close to the events they’re describing. It’s messiest when he writes about the clash between Yanomami and western lifestyles. He goes whole hog on cultural relativity, defending (albeit rather confusedly) the Yanomami practices of publicly gang raping unprotected women and forcing weeping young boys to beat each other with sticks, while seeming to dismiss prenatal care as an unnecessary westernism. He is also under the impression that the Yanomami lack inner lives, which comes up repeatedly and is a wild claim to make about any group of people (this recent book explores how little we know of others’ inner lives even within our own culture), and especially one whose language he only speaks a few words of. As far as I can tell his conclusion appears to be based on their straightforward, practical style of communication, their lacking the concept of money (worrying about which, from the author’s emphasis on this point, perhaps constitutes a large portion of his own inner life?), and the fact that once he settles into a long visit, the author himself tends to get into a flow state where he lives entirely in the present. While that’s great for him, these trips are a vacation from his real life and his inner experiences of them say little about those of the Yanomami themselves. There’s certainly a lot to say about cultural differences in emotional experience and physical and mental health (links are to books I recommend on these subjects), but this is clearly not Good’s lane and he stumbles whenever he tries to enter it. That said, the anecdote in which one of his local “wives” heals his eye injury by squirting her breast milk directly into his eye is wild and also apparently legit: breast milk has antibacterial properties and can be applied topically to various injuries.
At any rate, I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this, but it’s worth picking up for anyone interested in the topic.
December 2, 2016
The Way Around's strength is its weakness as well. David Good's book is the most personal of the many volumes written about the Amazon's Yanomami tribe and their culture. It is the first by a Yanomami-American, and tells, often with emotional power, the story of his efforts to reconcile two of the most opposite cultures imaginable: twenty-first century America and the timeless world of the rainforest. David Good is the son of Kenneth Good, whose own book preceded The Way Around. Kenneth Good, who is a more skilled writer than his son, wrote the story of how he met and married David's mother Yarima while doing field work in the Venezuelan rainforest. This essentially broke Ken Good's career as a frontline research anthropologist, both because he broke a longstanding unwritten rule by getting romantically involved with a "research subject," even more because Ken Good, from what both he and David say, fell so deeply in love with Yarima that he was never really able to carry on with the life and career he started. He became a respected professor at Jersey City University, but never pursued his groundbreaking theories of so-called "primitive" culture. Even so, his book Into the Heart lives on as a heroic love story in the face of crushing and ultimately impossible odds.
That is the world David Good was born into. He was old enough to have made strong bonds with his mother and her world when Yarima made her final break to Yanomamiland. She and Kenneth not only never reconciled, they didn't even have rudimentary communication. This dominated David's life in his childhood. He tried to "kill" his mother by saying and almost believing she was dead, that she'd been killed in a car accident. But he could never believe it, and it made his adolescence a sorry life of alcoholism and broken relationships. The amount of the book David spends on this period could easily be cut by perhaps one-third.
The only way David could resolve his dilemma, he decided, was to make a concerted effort to reconnect with Yarima. As a college student and graduate, he made that his overriding goal. In 2011, after cutting through thickets of red tape and other obstacles, including not knowing where Yarima lived or even if she was alive, he managed to find her. The book, which can be a rather pedestrian account of too much drinking and an unhappy relationship with his father in the first half, takes off when David makes his quixotic decision to live for a while in Yarima's village of Irokai-teri. David settles into the shabono with all the cultural dislocation it involves. He gives a riveting account of his efforts to adjust in two visits, the second in 2013.
As with Into the Heart, Yarima gives the book its center, its drama, its drive. She is charismatic in a way that seems peculiarly in accord with twenty-first century trends. From both photos and the accounts of her husband and her son, she is beautiful in archetypal Yanomami fashion, with a fresh, youthful, curious expression. She is clearly observant and intelligent, but her most alluring feature is a sly sense of humor that pokes gentle fun at Western Civilization without denigrating it. She seems by nature what many people strive to become through arduous learning and practice: she neither boasts about herself nor denigrates herself, she shows no signs of Western Civilizations's great and ubiquitous contribution of Mental Disorder. She simply accepts herself, makes her choices, lets others make their choices, never questions them, and goes with the moment, whatever the moment brings. She exemplifies much of the strength of small tribal culture, shows us through who she is how we can adapt these attitudes to whatever world we live in. Once she has you hooked, you cannot get away. Falling in love seems inevitable.
So this is what David Good conveys. The Way Around may be the least romantic book written about the Yanomami, because David is himself Yanomami. He describes his heritage not from any theoretical standpoint, but as it has impacted, and continues to impact, his life. The final chapter is a thought-provoking account of how modernism is impacting Yanomami life, whether they, or we, want it to. It seems likely that David will devote his career to The Good Project, which is his public attempt to do what he did for himself in private: interpret each culture to the other, allowing them both to live together and prosper even as inevitable change takes place. Not especially well-written, with a style that reads all too often like a college kid's late night bull session, The Way Around is nonetheless an important contribution to the ever-growing literature on the Yanomami and other Latin American indigenous cultures.
That is the world David Good was born into. He was old enough to have made strong bonds with his mother and her world when Yarima made her final break to Yanomamiland. She and Kenneth not only never reconciled, they didn't even have rudimentary communication. This dominated David's life in his childhood. He tried to "kill" his mother by saying and almost believing she was dead, that she'd been killed in a car accident. But he could never believe it, and it made his adolescence a sorry life of alcoholism and broken relationships. The amount of the book David spends on this period could easily be cut by perhaps one-third.
The only way David could resolve his dilemma, he decided, was to make a concerted effort to reconnect with Yarima. As a college student and graduate, he made that his overriding goal. In 2011, after cutting through thickets of red tape and other obstacles, including not knowing where Yarima lived or even if she was alive, he managed to find her. The book, which can be a rather pedestrian account of too much drinking and an unhappy relationship with his father in the first half, takes off when David makes his quixotic decision to live for a while in Yarima's village of Irokai-teri. David settles into the shabono with all the cultural dislocation it involves. He gives a riveting account of his efforts to adjust in two visits, the second in 2013.
As with Into the Heart, Yarima gives the book its center, its drama, its drive. She is charismatic in a way that seems peculiarly in accord with twenty-first century trends. From both photos and the accounts of her husband and her son, she is beautiful in archetypal Yanomami fashion, with a fresh, youthful, curious expression. She is clearly observant and intelligent, but her most alluring feature is a sly sense of humor that pokes gentle fun at Western Civilization without denigrating it. She seems by nature what many people strive to become through arduous learning and practice: she neither boasts about herself nor denigrates herself, she shows no signs of Western Civilizations's great and ubiquitous contribution of Mental Disorder. She simply accepts herself, makes her choices, lets others make their choices, never questions them, and goes with the moment, whatever the moment brings. She exemplifies much of the strength of small tribal culture, shows us through who she is how we can adapt these attitudes to whatever world we live in. Once she has you hooked, you cannot get away. Falling in love seems inevitable.
So this is what David Good conveys. The Way Around may be the least romantic book written about the Yanomami, because David is himself Yanomami. He describes his heritage not from any theoretical standpoint, but as it has impacted, and continues to impact, his life. The final chapter is a thought-provoking account of how modernism is impacting Yanomami life, whether they, or we, want it to. It seems likely that David will devote his career to The Good Project, which is his public attempt to do what he did for himself in private: interpret each culture to the other, allowing them both to live together and prosper even as inevitable change takes place. Not especially well-written, with a style that reads all too often like a college kid's late night bull session, The Way Around is nonetheless an important contribution to the ever-growing literature on the Yanomami and other Latin American indigenous cultures.
November 12, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyable, a heart-warming story. Well written; it was like the writer was speaking directly to the reader.
Like many people, I saw the National Geographic documentary many years ago of Kenneth Good the anthropologist in Yanomami territory, meeting his wife, moving to USA and traveling back to the rainforest with the children.
This book fills in many spaces in that journey.
May 4, 2019
This wasn't the page turner I might've expected like other, similar memoirs, but it was incredible. I love the Amazon and indigenous people so I jump at any opportunity to learn about it. This is also a good window into cross-cultural divides. But it's less a full-on blast of racism like you might expect and more of showing the damage thoughtless comments/actions can do, or even just systematic problems like immigration can be. It's also sprinkled with bits of humor. But more than all that, it's about the Yanomami, once labeled the fierce people and now just people. Actually I don't feel like calling them fierce is derogatory, but I suppose in the context where they've been regarded as violent savages it is. Savage being another I like but which is historically problematic. Either way, the Yanomami are badass and I lament what's happening to them by Bolsonaro and Maduro's governments and their companies.
October 27, 2025
What an incredible story! The author is the son of a Yanomami woman and an American anthropologist. He spent decades trying to make sense of his life, and this is his story. He tries to be sympathetic to both parents, though his dad was widely criticized by both the Venezuelan government and other anthropologists. His mother, meanwhile, who was only a teen, decades younger than the anthropologist when they got together, gave his hometown in New Jersey a shot (she loved McDonald's french fries) but after a short time went back to her village in the forest. So David was estranged from his mother most of his life, and unable to communicate much with his father, who was bitter about the whole experience. The part in the middle of the book about David's troubled teen years reads a bit slow (you've heard this story before) but everything else, particularly his reunion with his mother, is fascinating. Definitely recommended.
June 23, 2017
I remember hearing a little of the author's family story when I was an anthropology student, as it was a pretty big scandal at the time.
His journey back to his mother is touching, but this book raises more questions than it answers. So many questions about consent and autonomy here. He leaves out a lot of details, and the timelines and details about his relationships with some people are pretty muddled. He also goes awfully easy on his father. It is not a very well written book, but a really interesting one.
His journey back to his mother is touching, but this book raises more questions than it answers. So many questions about consent and autonomy here. He leaves out a lot of details, and the timelines and details about his relationships with some people are pretty muddled. He also goes awfully easy on his father. It is not a very well written book, but a really interesting one.
April 13, 2021
The story is interesting and what drew me to the book. I’m not sure if it was written for a young adult audience or if the writing was just poor, but the style was pretty conversational, with repetition and awkward similes. I felt throughout that it could use a lot of editing.
The author raised several important issues (contact with indigenous people, casual racism, issues of consent, etc), but never explored them in depth and did not appear to do any outside research.
Nevertheless, the story of his life was interesting.
The author raised several important issues (contact with indigenous people, casual racism, issues of consent, etc), but never explored them in depth and did not appear to do any outside research.
Nevertheless, the story of his life was interesting.
January 24, 2023
This book was a relatively fast read and contained some fascinating stories. I appreciated the ethical and moral dilemmas that were presented even if they unsettled me. I can’t give this 4 or 5 stars due to some of the cringey statements made by the author or some of the writing (which bordered on adolescent). I wish the book centered more on the Yanomami culture and development but I understand it is a memoir style.
To summarize: interesting but some flaws that distracted from the story
To summarize: interesting but some flaws that distracted from the story
July 14, 2021
A wonderful memoir that will speak to many of my HS friends in different ways. Can't wait for the graphic novel next year! Attending a webinar with David Cook by Primary Source was a great way to interact with the book and his story.
December 10, 2017
This is a fascinating book about a young man who grew up in New Jersey who finds his way back to his mother in the Amazon jungle. My full review is here:
https://journeystotruth.blogspot.com/
https://journeystotruth.blogspot.com/
January 7, 2018
Not well written, maybe it's biggest flaw, but liked the story and the search.
June 8, 2018
Hermosísima e interesantísima historia. solo criticable debido a que el autor no es escritor, y su estilo le restaba un poco a la lectura. Aún así, lo recomiendo altamente.
October 21, 2020
When your father and your mother
Are so different from each other.
Are so different from each other.
September 1, 2024
This is an engrossing personal story.
May 19, 2025
DNF because this book made me feel so gross
Read
May 21, 2025Not a good read, but still of interest for anyone learning about Yanomami ways of life. The outsider perspective is unvarnished.
August 13, 2025
Really fascinating story.
July 24, 2021
Really touching story
I read Into the Heart as a college student and it was so wonderful to see David’s story and perspective. Very raw and honest. I hope there is a sequel about Yarima’s trip to the US.
I read Into the Heart as a college student and it was so wonderful to see David’s story and perspective. Very raw and honest. I hope there is a sequel about Yarima’s trip to the US.
October 13, 2019
Read this in a single evening. It's a fascinating story but I was hoping for something a little meatier, with more insight into the anthropology aspect.
August 19, 2019
I won this book as an ARC from Goodreads.
This book is unlike any other, because its story is so unique. The author is the son of an anthropologist and a tribeswoman who lives in a remote jungle in Venezuela. That’s a pretty unique situation, and one that makes you want to learn more.
The story flips back and forth between the author’s life in the United States and his time spent back in the jungle with his mom, and I would’ve liked to hear more about his time in the jungle. Not that his reasons for going back to the jungle weren’t worth exploring, too, but I found the parts about his time in the jungle most fascinating.
At the end of the book, the author talks about trying to bring more modern conveniences to the people of the jungle, and that’s the only part I didn’t like. Those people live off the land and have for hundreds of years. Why change it? I think it’s an amazing thing, and their knowledge and skill they have without the stress that modern things can bring is what makes them so incredible.
This book is unlike any other, because its story is so unique. The author is the son of an anthropologist and a tribeswoman who lives in a remote jungle in Venezuela. That’s a pretty unique situation, and one that makes you want to learn more.
The story flips back and forth between the author’s life in the United States and his time spent back in the jungle with his mom, and I would’ve liked to hear more about his time in the jungle. Not that his reasons for going back to the jungle weren’t worth exploring, too, but I found the parts about his time in the jungle most fascinating.
At the end of the book, the author talks about trying to bring more modern conveniences to the people of the jungle, and that’s the only part I didn’t like. Those people live off the land and have for hundreds of years. Why change it? I think it’s an amazing thing, and their knowledge and skill they have without the stress that modern things can bring is what makes them so incredible.
June 6, 2016
Rezension: David Good „ Meine Dschungel-Mutter. Wie ich bei den Yanomami- Indianern meine Wurzeln fand“
Inhalt vom Klappentext:
David Goods Vater, ein Anthropologe, trifft Mitte der siebziger Jahre im Amazonas-Dschungel fernab der Zivilisation eine Yanomami-Frau, und zwischen den beiden entwickelt sich eine ungewöhnliche Liebesgeschichte. Bald kommt das erste Kind zur Welt, David, und die kleine Familie zieht in die USA. Für Yarima, Davids Mutter, ein Kulturschock. Sie passt sich an, doch nach fünf Jahren hält sie es nicht mehr aus: Von einem Besuch bei ihrem Stamm kehrt sie nicht mehr zurück, lässt David und seine beiden Geschwister beim Vater.
Als junger Erwachsener gerät David durch Alkohol und Drogen aus der Bahn – bis ihm plötzlich klar wird, dass er zu seinen Wurzeln zurückkehren muss. Er macht sich auf die lange Reise zu seiner Mutter in den Dschungel; und er findet dort, wonach er all die Jahre so verzweifelt gesucht hat.
Meinung:
Der Autor und gleichzeitige Protagonist David teilt hier in diesem Buch seine unglaublich bewegende Lebensgeschichte mit uns und diese Geschichte ist so echt und persönlich, da er wirklich alles von sich preisgibt. Er hat mir unglaublich imponiert, vor allem weil er so ehrlich mit sich selbst war und sich das automatisch in der Geschichte widerspiegelte. Man verfolgt seine Entwicklung vom Kleinkind zum Mann und stellt auch eine unglaubliche Weiterentwicklung seiner Persönlichkeit und Reife fest.
Das Buch ist in 8 Kapitel unterteilt und wir werden auf den ersten Seiten mitten in eine Situation während seines ersten Besuchs in den Amazonas hinein geschubst. Der Autor springt dann immer von den Anfängen und der Kennenlern-Geschichte seiner Eltern, die unglaublich interessant und bedeutsam ist, zu einem aktuelleren Erlebnis hin und her. Somit hielt er den Spannungsbogen immer wieder aufrecht und ein Puzzle fügte sich somit für den Leser allmählich zusammen.
David wirkt zunächst durch sein erzählen aus der Vergangenheit wenig sympathisch, da er absolut auf die schiefe Bahn gerät, was aber auch nicht allzu abwegig ist, wenn man die Hintergründe dafür kennt. Abgesehen davon, hat man trotzdem den Eindruck, dass er einen guten und liebenswerten Kern hat und hinter alldem Größeres zu stecken scheint, was dem Leser auch schnell offenbart wird.
Das Buch erzählt von der Suche nach seiner jahrelang verdrängten Identität und das es auf einer wahren Begebenheit beruht, machte das Ganze für mich noch greifbarer und emotionaler.
Was mir sehr gut gefallen hat, dass er große Rücksicht auf seine zwei Geschwister nimmt, denn er hält sich größtenteils nur an seine eigene Perspektive und versucht nicht aus deren Sichtweise die Geschichte zu ergänzen, was ich sehr respektvoll von ihm finde.
Man bekommt einen unglaublich guten Eindruck von den Ureinwohnern des Amazonas-Dschungel und lernt ihre Lebensgewohnheiten und Kultur so detailliert kennen, dass man das Gefühl bekommt, selbst dort gewesen zu sein.
In der Mitte des Buches sind einige Fotografien eingebaut mit Beschreibungen von den Besuchen bei seiner Mutter und seinem Stamm, was unglaublich beeindruckend ist, zumal wir sie einmal in westlicher Kleidung in den USA und dann wieder traditionell gekleidet sehen dürfen.
Viel mehr Inhalt möchte ich eigentlich nicht preisgeben, da diese spannende Erzählung noch so viele einschneidende Sequenzen für den Leser bereithält, den man selbst entdecken sollte.
Das gelungene Werk erzählt eine wunderbare Geschichte, über einen jungen Mann auf dem Weg zu sich selbst, eine sehr angespannte und schwierige Familiensituation, eine sehr interessante Kultur auf einem anderen Kontinent mit einem Ende, dass mich zu Tränen gerührt hat. Absolut empfehlenswert!
Inhalt vom Klappentext:
David Goods Vater, ein Anthropologe, trifft Mitte der siebziger Jahre im Amazonas-Dschungel fernab der Zivilisation eine Yanomami-Frau, und zwischen den beiden entwickelt sich eine ungewöhnliche Liebesgeschichte. Bald kommt das erste Kind zur Welt, David, und die kleine Familie zieht in die USA. Für Yarima, Davids Mutter, ein Kulturschock. Sie passt sich an, doch nach fünf Jahren hält sie es nicht mehr aus: Von einem Besuch bei ihrem Stamm kehrt sie nicht mehr zurück, lässt David und seine beiden Geschwister beim Vater.
Als junger Erwachsener gerät David durch Alkohol und Drogen aus der Bahn – bis ihm plötzlich klar wird, dass er zu seinen Wurzeln zurückkehren muss. Er macht sich auf die lange Reise zu seiner Mutter in den Dschungel; und er findet dort, wonach er all die Jahre so verzweifelt gesucht hat.
Meinung:
Der Autor und gleichzeitige Protagonist David teilt hier in diesem Buch seine unglaublich bewegende Lebensgeschichte mit uns und diese Geschichte ist so echt und persönlich, da er wirklich alles von sich preisgibt. Er hat mir unglaublich imponiert, vor allem weil er so ehrlich mit sich selbst war und sich das automatisch in der Geschichte widerspiegelte. Man verfolgt seine Entwicklung vom Kleinkind zum Mann und stellt auch eine unglaubliche Weiterentwicklung seiner Persönlichkeit und Reife fest.
Das Buch ist in 8 Kapitel unterteilt und wir werden auf den ersten Seiten mitten in eine Situation während seines ersten Besuchs in den Amazonas hinein geschubst. Der Autor springt dann immer von den Anfängen und der Kennenlern-Geschichte seiner Eltern, die unglaublich interessant und bedeutsam ist, zu einem aktuelleren Erlebnis hin und her. Somit hielt er den Spannungsbogen immer wieder aufrecht und ein Puzzle fügte sich somit für den Leser allmählich zusammen.
David wirkt zunächst durch sein erzählen aus der Vergangenheit wenig sympathisch, da er absolut auf die schiefe Bahn gerät, was aber auch nicht allzu abwegig ist, wenn man die Hintergründe dafür kennt. Abgesehen davon, hat man trotzdem den Eindruck, dass er einen guten und liebenswerten Kern hat und hinter alldem Größeres zu stecken scheint, was dem Leser auch schnell offenbart wird.
Das Buch erzählt von der Suche nach seiner jahrelang verdrängten Identität und das es auf einer wahren Begebenheit beruht, machte das Ganze für mich noch greifbarer und emotionaler.
Was mir sehr gut gefallen hat, dass er große Rücksicht auf seine zwei Geschwister nimmt, denn er hält sich größtenteils nur an seine eigene Perspektive und versucht nicht aus deren Sichtweise die Geschichte zu ergänzen, was ich sehr respektvoll von ihm finde.
Man bekommt einen unglaublich guten Eindruck von den Ureinwohnern des Amazonas-Dschungel und lernt ihre Lebensgewohnheiten und Kultur so detailliert kennen, dass man das Gefühl bekommt, selbst dort gewesen zu sein.
In der Mitte des Buches sind einige Fotografien eingebaut mit Beschreibungen von den Besuchen bei seiner Mutter und seinem Stamm, was unglaublich beeindruckend ist, zumal wir sie einmal in westlicher Kleidung in den USA und dann wieder traditionell gekleidet sehen dürfen.
Viel mehr Inhalt möchte ich eigentlich nicht preisgeben, da diese spannende Erzählung noch so viele einschneidende Sequenzen für den Leser bereithält, den man selbst entdecken sollte.
Das gelungene Werk erzählt eine wunderbare Geschichte, über einen jungen Mann auf dem Weg zu sich selbst, eine sehr angespannte und schwierige Familiensituation, eine sehr interessante Kultur auf einem anderen Kontinent mit einem Ende, dass mich zu Tränen gerührt hat. Absolut empfehlenswert!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2017
Biggest (literary) disappointment of 2017 so far! But take heart—we've only barely made it out of January and into February, so I'm sure there's worse yet to come.
Note, please, that I say 'biggest disappointment' and not 'worst book'—because if I were keeping track of the latter, this wouldn't even be in the running. It's more that I had very high expectations, and The Way Around fell short of those.
Good has a relatively unique subset of international parents: his father is American and his mother Venezuelan, from an isolated tribe in the rainforest. As Good tells it, his parents married partly (largely) out of cultural pressure when his father was doing anthropological research, but they developed a genuine relationship and had children...and then his father went back to the States and his mother chose to stay in Venezuela. (I'm simplifying considerably; you'll have to read for the full story. Good's father also wrote a book about his experience, which I might track down when I've worked through my most recent library haul.) As an adult, Good decided to track down his mother.
I struggled with the voice here, I think. The book was written with a ghostwriter, and I don't know what impact that might have had, but there's a really casual tone to the book that I think does it a disservice: lots of breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly; lots of colloquial language. Not that I expected a super dense, research-heavy book, but this often felt too casual for me. It also surprised me that...how do I put this? I don't think I was much closer to understanding Good's mother by the end of the book than I was at the beginning. Oh, there are some things that are dead clear: that she loved her children but could not envision a permanent life away from the home she'd always known, for example. But...what did she and Good talk about, when they were together? What did a day in her life look like? What was her personality? This is one reason I'd love to read Into the Heart, since I suspect that'll take place more in Venezuela and focus less on the US.
When it comes down to it, I think I expected something that was mainly about Good reconnecting with his mother's side of his heritage (if he said in the book how long either of the trips he took lasted, I missed it—a BBC article says about three months for the first trip, though with some back-and-forth between areas of the Amazon). This has that, of course, but it's just as much about growing up and figuring oneself out. Not that that's a bad thing, but the whole package was a lighter read than I'd hoped for.
Note, please, that I say 'biggest disappointment' and not 'worst book'—because if I were keeping track of the latter, this wouldn't even be in the running. It's more that I had very high expectations, and The Way Around fell short of those.
Good has a relatively unique subset of international parents: his father is American and his mother Venezuelan, from an isolated tribe in the rainforest. As Good tells it, his parents married partly (largely) out of cultural pressure when his father was doing anthropological research, but they developed a genuine relationship and had children...and then his father went back to the States and his mother chose to stay in Venezuela. (I'm simplifying considerably; you'll have to read for the full story. Good's father also wrote a book about his experience, which I might track down when I've worked through my most recent library haul.) As an adult, Good decided to track down his mother.
I struggled with the voice here, I think. The book was written with a ghostwriter, and I don't know what impact that might have had, but there's a really casual tone to the book that I think does it a disservice: lots of breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly; lots of colloquial language. Not that I expected a super dense, research-heavy book, but this often felt too casual for me. It also surprised me that...how do I put this? I don't think I was much closer to understanding Good's mother by the end of the book than I was at the beginning. Oh, there are some things that are dead clear: that she loved her children but could not envision a permanent life away from the home she'd always known, for example. But...what did she and Good talk about, when they were together? What did a day in her life look like? What was her personality? This is one reason I'd love to read Into the Heart, since I suspect that'll take place more in Venezuela and focus less on the US.
When it comes down to it, I think I expected something that was mainly about Good reconnecting with his mother's side of his heritage (if he said in the book how long either of the trips he took lasted, I missed it—a BBC article says about three months for the first trip, though with some back-and-forth between areas of the Amazon). This has that, of course, but it's just as much about growing up and figuring oneself out. Not that that's a bad thing, but the whole package was a lighter read than I'd hoped for.
April 22, 2016
I received this book from Goodreads.
The Yanomami is a fascinating people so very different from my own culture. I always sat transfixed to the TV when the "people with the sicks in their face" came on.
I grew up watching Animal Planet so I'm positive that I have watched the little documentary about his family and other clips about the Yanomami at some point in the past.
Because of this I read the book with a sweet reminiscent quality that only comes from happy childhood memories. That feeling helped me get through this book because Good is not exactly a natural story teller. His writing was all over the place, bouncing back and forth, past and present, and here and there. I still wasn't use to his sudden bounces by the end of the book. I learned to just roll with the punches.
Despite the odds and ends, I enjoyed reading about the Yanomami. I just wished Good had offered more answers about the health, food and so on. He mostly wrote about his trials growing up and how he had to come to terms that he was half of an indigenous culture and that makes him different. Sooo.....pretty much what thousands of Native American children, teens, and young adults struggle with in a society that only has room for one type of person.
As someone who is more into history than the troubles of a self-destructive teenager that was struggling to find his way I was disappointed there wasn't less him and more Yanomami.
But I'm not questioning my heritage. I'm not filled with the self-hate and humiliation that many indigenous people fight everyday while learning to love themselves, their people, and their culture.
Coming to terms with his mother and her people took up most of his life! Of course he's going to write about. I would, too. Learning to accept yourself and be happy with the results is one of the hardest battle a person can win. It's ongoing and never ending. But if you won the first one you can win the rest.
So, yes. I think it was important that he wrote of his struggles, and (mostly) overcame them.
The Yanomami is a fascinating people so very different from my own culture. I always sat transfixed to the TV when the "people with the sicks in their face" came on.
I grew up watching Animal Planet so I'm positive that I have watched the little documentary about his family and other clips about the Yanomami at some point in the past.
Because of this I read the book with a sweet reminiscent quality that only comes from happy childhood memories. That feeling helped me get through this book because Good is not exactly a natural story teller. His writing was all over the place, bouncing back and forth, past and present, and here and there. I still wasn't use to his sudden bounces by the end of the book. I learned to just roll with the punches.
Despite the odds and ends, I enjoyed reading about the Yanomami. I just wished Good had offered more answers about the health, food and so on. He mostly wrote about his trials growing up and how he had to come to terms that he was half of an indigenous culture and that makes him different. Sooo.....pretty much what thousands of Native American children, teens, and young adults struggle with in a society that only has room for one type of person.
As someone who is more into history than the troubles of a self-destructive teenager that was struggling to find his way I was disappointed there wasn't less him and more Yanomami.
But I'm not questioning my heritage. I'm not filled with the self-hate and humiliation that many indigenous people fight everyday while learning to love themselves, their people, and their culture.
Coming to terms with his mother and her people took up most of his life! Of course he's going to write about. I would, too. Learning to accept yourself and be happy with the results is one of the hardest battle a person can win. It's ongoing and never ending. But if you won the first one you can win the rest.
So, yes. I think it was important that he wrote of his struggles, and (mostly) overcame them.
December 18, 2015
I was highly disappointed with this book. That is not to say that I didn’t find the story interesting because I did. I hated the writing. There was no differentiation between journal entries and the book itself. The book was written in a very unprofessional manner. It’s like Good didn’t have enough respect for his readers to write an actual memoir instead of a journal. If he wanted to write a journal, then it should have been setup that way. It’s like he said, “Hey, everyone writes memoirs, so I can too.” He didn’t even do his homework in how a memoir should be written. That alone makes for bad writing. Good comes from a very unique background, half Yanomami and half American. He tells his father’s story in the first two or three chapters. He could have done a brief synopsis, but instead, half the book was his father’s story. If I was that interested in his father’s story, I would just read his book. Also, Good uses too much slang and curses that are completely useless in a book like this. If he wants his audience to take him seriously, then he should write in a professional manner. I feel like I was insulted reading his book. Another aspect that was awful was how he continually repeated himself and his poor sentence structure. One adjective wasn’t enough, so he had to use five behind the first, just to make sure his readers understood what he was saying. He doesn’t touch his readers enough to understand what he is trying to say. It’s highly insulting. Besides the awful writing, the story was highly entertaining. I’m happy for Good that he got to be reunited with his mother after all these years. Having an absent parent is never easy, and it’s nice to see that his parents are reunited through the phone and that he will continually go to the jungle to be with his mother as well as being in the states raising his daughter. It’s also admirable what Good is doing, trying to help the Yanomami with technology and education. I hope he succeeds on his journey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2015
This is the true story of David Good, son of anthropologist Kenneth Good and Yarima, a Yanomami native of Venezuela. David shares the powerful story of his father's experience with the Yanomami tribes, the growth of his parents' relationship, their brief time together in the US raising their 3 children, his reaction to growing up without his mother, and his eventual return discover his mother and his Yanomami heritage. His story is honest, moving, and powerful, and one of the most interesting I have read. I wanted to drink in every moment David spent with his mother's people, learning their ways and discovering how proud he was to be part of such a fine and ancient heritage. I found myself intensely interested in the many different facets of his story: cultural, scientific, interpersonal, and psychological. Meeting the Yanomami through David's words, I found a great respect for these people who live as their ancestors always have, and I believe they have a great deal to teach us. From BBC interviews, I knew a bit of his story before reading his book. I wasn't sure how I felt about his parents' relationship, controversial because we are taught that an anthropologist should never become personally involved with members of the culture he is studying. David handles this difficult subject with honesty and dignity, as he did for many of the very personal matters he explores.
The book is well written and it's easy conversational style makes it a fast read. I actually put off finishing it because I didn't want it to end, and I highly recommend it.
The book is well written and it's easy conversational style makes it a fast read. I actually put off finishing it because I didn't want it to end, and I highly recommend it.
July 24, 2016
In some ways this memoir reminds me of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. This is the story a young man raised in the United States reaching out to learn more about a parent from a different race and culture. The gulf was much larger for David Good than for Barack Obama as Good had absolutely no contact with his Yanomami mother after he turned 5. When in his 20's, he was finally able to travel to her very remote Venezuelan village they had almost no common language. Over two visits, David Good learned Yanomani language and culture. Learning about the culture and finding his part in it is the central theme of the book.
The book is interesting and a fast read. It would be good for book clubs as it will spark conversations. Still, 3 rather than 4 stars seems enough.Good was still in his 20's when writing so not quite ready for a full biography, no matter how interesting his story is. Perhaps he was trying not offend family members and friends. Or maybe he was avoiding talking of his own demons. What ever the reason, the book seems slightly unfinished.
The book is interesting and a fast read. It would be good for book clubs as it will spark conversations. Still, 3 rather than 4 stars seems enough.Good was still in his 20's when writing so not quite ready for a full biography, no matter how interesting his story is. Perhaps he was trying not offend family members and friends. Or maybe he was avoiding talking of his own demons. What ever the reason, the book seems slightly unfinished.
June 22, 2016
Story of David Good, son of American anthropologist and Amazon tribeswoman. Born in Venezuela, the family moved to the US when David was young. His mother lived with them for several years but on a visit back to her tribe, she decided not to return to the US. I found it incredible that a woman who did not even wear clothes and spoke an indigenous language had the courage to leave her people when she did. These people live so isolated that they have no concept of any type of environment but the jungle. They are nomadic people who live outdoors and forage for food. David's father did not display emotions or discuss family matters so all David knew was that his mother had abandoned him. The book is his troubling story leading up to about age 25 when he decides to find his mother in 2011. He lives with her for a couple of months and they bond. Then he returns to the real world but feels pulled back to "his people" (the Yanomami). As the book ends, he has visited once more and set up a non-profit to shed light on the world's population. Hard to believe (but it's true) story. Enjoyed the style and wit of the writing.
April 11, 2018
I had this sitting on my shelf and couldn't quite recall where it came from or how I had managed to get an uncorrected proof. Finding a letter tucked in the pages, I recalled it was a free copy with another purchase from a wonderful indie I had visited in CT. The copy I received was an uncorrected proof. The shop was lovely.
Unfortunately, I can't say as much for the book. I think I was more excited to solve the mystery of how I acquired the book than to continue reading. The writing style was not for me and what is a beautiful underlying story is lost to poor editing (perhaps we can blame that on it being an uncorrected proof) and what feel like hokey attempts to make this something it just isn't.
I wanted to love it. The premise seemed promising and the idea of an author able to merge a personal story of two such vastly different experiences and perspectives was riveting. I can certainly understand why many who read the book enjoyed it and perhaps in another phase of my life, I would have as well.
Unfortunately, I can't say as much for the book. I think I was more excited to solve the mystery of how I acquired the book than to continue reading. The writing style was not for me and what is a beautiful underlying story is lost to poor editing (perhaps we can blame that on it being an uncorrected proof) and what feel like hokey attempts to make this something it just isn't.
I wanted to love it. The premise seemed promising and the idea of an author able to merge a personal story of two such vastly different experiences and perspectives was riveting. I can certainly understand why many who read the book enjoyed it and perhaps in another phase of my life, I would have as well.
January 1, 2017
The idea that a child born to an American anthropologist and a tribeswoman from the Amazon rainforest could integrate those seemingly polar opposite cultures mesmerized me. I saw that the author, David Good, son of this unlikely pair, would be speaking at my local library; I watched the videos included in the announcement of his talk, and was hooked! He was so personable, forthcoming, genuine, non-judgmental, self-examined. The photos and film he showed were beyond my comprehension of how one could grow up in my region of PA/NJ with visits to his mother's Yanomami tribe, suffer the anguish at the age of 6 when his mother returned to her world and left her 3 children to be raised by their father here in America never to hear from her again, then set out in his 20's to find her.
His book, The Way Around, is a very personal memoir telling how this affected his young life and how he found his answers, his mother and his people. Fascinating.
His book, The Way Around, is a very personal memoir telling how this affected his young life and how he found his answers, his mother and his people. Fascinating.
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