Participant observer : memoir of a transatlantic life /

Rutgers University anthropologist, poet, and essayist Fox's detailed memoir, written in third-person singular, is a literary trip via memory through his childhood, youth, and lengthy professional life, using an autoethnographic approach to encounter "the development of the soul." Fox offers a personal and somewhat charming view of bygone landscapes and cultures; that of rural England prior to WW II provides his formative encounter with many forms of the "other." It comes across very clearly and exuberantly that Fox is a person absolutely in love with the English language (among others). In addition, he feels fortunate to have "stumbled accidentally onto the state of big ideas and their related events." It is these big ideas, such as sociobiology, that are the focus of the work. This is a great read for aficionados of biographical method, autobiography, and the history of 20th-century ideas. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General collections and graduate students, faculty, and professionals. S. R. Martin Michigan Technological University