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  • Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes

  • Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle
  • Written by: Daniel L. Everett
  • Narrated by: Daniel Everett
  • Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)

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Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes

Written by: Daniel L. Everett
Narrated by: Daniel Everett
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Publisher's Summary

Daniel Everett, then a Christian missionary, arrived among the Pirahã in 1977 - with his wife and three young children - intending to convert them. What he found was a language that defies all existing linguistic theories and reflects a way of life that evades contemporary understanding. The Pirahã have no counting system and no fixed terms for color. They have no concept of war or of personal property. They live entirely in the present. Everett became obsessed with their language and its cultural and linguistic implications, and with the remarkable contentment with which they live - so much so that he eventually lost his faith in the God he'd hoped to introduce to them. Over three decades, Everett spent a total of seven years among the Pirahã, and his account of this lasting sojourn is an engrossing exploration of language that questions modern linguistic theory. It is also an anthropological investigation, an adventure story, and a riveting memoir of a life profoundly affected by exposure to a different culture. Written with extraordinary acuity, sensitivity, and openness, it is fascinating from first to last, rich with unparalleled insight into the nature of language, thought, and life itself.

©2008 Daniel L. Everett (P)2017 Tantor
Philosophy Social Sciences Anthropology Adventure Travel
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What the critics say

"Rich account of fieldwork among a tribe of hunter-gatherers in Brazil.... Everett's experiences and findings fairly explode from these pages and will reverberate in the minds of readers." ( Kirkus)

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Living in the moment

This is more than just a book on linguistics. It's an important first hand recount by Daniel on his experience with the profundity of the Pirahã's ethos to life - living in the moment.

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disappointed

Daniel is a very observant and sensitive man with a great head for linguistics. I was very disappointed about his conclusions about God and I felt betrayed after a fairly dry treatment on language in this missionary book to have the missionary deconvert.

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