The Reindeer People by Piers Vitebsky is a favorite of mine, wich focuses on the Eveny people of Siberia.
The Shaman’s Coat: A Native History of Siberia, by Anna Read, is a good overview of SIberian peoples.
Marshall Sahlins’ entire corpus is pretty good, although his style puts some lay readers off.
Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Branislaw Malinowski deals with Melanesian trade and business ventures. It’s rather old at this point, but Malinowski had a fair influence on the development of anthropology thereafter.
Wisdom Sits in Places by Keith Basso, which deals with an Apache group.
The Nuer by EE Evans Pritchard is older, and very dry, but widely regarded as a classic in the field. It deals with the Nuer people of Sudan.
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman is not strictly an ethnography, but it’s very relevant to anthropological mindsets and is often required reading in first-year courses in the field.
Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho, is pretty much what it says in the title, and a bit more contemporary.
Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber mixes in history and economics, but it’s generally relevant.
Pathologies of Power by Paul Farmer focuses on the poor in Haiti.
Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection by Ana Tsing is kind of complicated to explain. Short version: it takes a look at events in Indonesia and traces out actors, groups, their motivating factors, and so on.
Can you recommend a book / author? (Interested outsider, no idea what the good stuff is, have read Jared Diamond and similar works.)
The Reindeer People by Piers Vitebsky is a favorite of mine, wich focuses on the Eveny people of Siberia. The Shaman’s Coat: A Native History of Siberia, by Anna Read, is a good overview of SIberian peoples. Marshall Sahlins’ entire corpus is pretty good, although his style puts some lay readers off. Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Branislaw Malinowski deals with Melanesian trade and business ventures. It’s rather old at this point, but Malinowski had a fair influence on the development of anthropology thereafter. Wisdom Sits in Places by Keith Basso, which deals with an Apache group. The Nuer by EE Evans Pritchard is older, and very dry, but widely regarded as a classic in the field. It deals with the Nuer people of Sudan. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman is not strictly an ethnography, but it’s very relevant to anthropological mindsets and is often required reading in first-year courses in the field. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho, is pretty much what it says in the title, and a bit more contemporary. Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber mixes in history and economics, but it’s generally relevant. Pathologies of Power by Paul Farmer focuses on the poor in Haiti. Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection by Ana Tsing is kind of complicated to explain. Short version: it takes a look at events in Indonesia and traces out actors, groups, their motivating factors, and so on.