Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa - Paperback

by Alma Gottlieb (Author), Philip Graham (Author)

This suspenseful and moving memoir of Africa recounts the experiences of Alma Gottlieb, an anthropologist, and Philip Graham, a fiction writer, as they lived in two remote villages in the rain forest of Cote d'Ivoire. With an unusual coupling of first-person narratives, their alternate voices tell a story imbued with sweeping narrative power, humility, and gentle humor. Parallel Worlds is a unique look at Africa, anthropological fieldwork, and the artistic process.

Back Jacket

This suspenseful and moving memoir of Africa recounts the experiences of Alma Gottlieb, an anthropologist, and Philip Graham, a fiction writer, as they lived in two remote villages in the rain forest of Cote d'Ivoire. With an unusual coupling of first-person narratives, their alternate voices tell a story imbued with sweeping narrative power, humility, and gentle humor. Parallel Worlds is a unique look at Africa, anthropological fieldwork, and the artistic process.

Author Biography

Alma Gottlieb is professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of The Restless Anthropologist, The Afterlife Is Where We Come From, and Under the Kapok Tree, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Philip Graham is professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and also teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Moon, Come to Earth, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Together they are the authors of Parallel Worlds: An Anthropologist and a Writer Encounter Africa.