Synopsis
This honest glimpse into the nature of ethnographic fieldwork, revolves around letters written by the author to illustrate the daily adventures of learning to understand a largely unknown culture through participant observation and interactive discourse.
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Review
. . . a fascinating and delightful book . . . It is a deeply personal book and a true adventure story . . . a joy to read . . . Those folks who read books of adventure, travel, and science written for laypeople will love it. (Dorothy Ayers Counts, University of Waterloo)
These letters make an absorbing read. The introductory and closing chapters, together with the instructive postscripts at the end of each chapter of letters, provide instructive commentary for students and fellow practicing anthropologists alike, as well as for the interested lay audience. The process of learning another language and culture, while it involves systematic elicitation procedures whenever possible, is largely a matter of hanging in there and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. These letters of Professors Goodale and Chowning document that process vividly. (Ward H. Goodenough, University of Pennsylvania)
The Two-Party Line is a retrospective glimpse of an almost unique kind―an anthropological conversation from the 1960s between two fieldworkers, living by themselves but within communicating distance, and sharing experiences at once common and divergent. The letters bring the 1960s to life in a fresh and witty way, with a commentary in keeping with the time. A wonderful historical document. This is a gem of a book, a genre that grew of itself and a story that grows on the reader. (Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge)
The book is expertly edited, with interesting commentaries by Goodale. (CHOICE)
The book is worth the attention of a contemporary audience... This is a unique book and is likely to remain so. ...useful for stimulating discussion on a vast array of topics... (Richard Scaglion, University of Pittsburgh American Anthropologist)
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