"In the weeks after September 11 . . . Tamim Ansary delivered us from text into context, from crisis into history, from isolation into geography, from a world shattered to one that, having lived through millennia of shatterings, stays mournfully round, and around . . . Mr. Ansary, a California writer and editor, has put this and much else into West of Kabul, East of New York, a book that steadies our skittering compass."—Richard Eder, The New York Times

"Fascinating . . . While The Mourner's Dance is not intended to be a self-help book, readers who have undergone the death of a loved one might find solace and wisdom in the collective human experience of loss it illuminates."—Donna Marchetti, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"An elegant, deeply informative text [that] weaves rich scholarship [into] family history, folk tradition, and manifest humanity. In a way that Jessica Mitford never could, Ashenburg understands the verities of good grief and good funerals and why, to deal with death, we must deal with our dead. [This book is] free of the warm-fuzzies, full of uncommon wisdom."—Thomas Lynch, author of The Undertaking

"The revelation that social pair-bonds do not necessarily imply exclusive mating relationships has spurred a revolution in how scientists think about mating systems. This book explores when and why social and sexual monogamy often do not coincide."—Paul W. Sherman, Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University

"An informed, passionate and enlightening volume, one that draws on an exceedingly rich experience and adds new dimensions to our understanding of the diversity of human life."—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

"This is reporting at its best. This is how sociology should be, a comprehensive view in depth on a major social problem in America. This will be a benchmark for all future inquiries."—Daniel Bell, professor emeritus, Harvard University

“A necessary book . . . A work of frontline reportage, an inquiry into the economic and political and moral forces that are busy reconfiguring the city, [and] an urgent plea for justice, however couched it is in the careful, procedural, understating style of fieldwork.”—Luc Sante, The Village Voice Literary Supplement

"Erdman sets about her incremental work—wheedling mothers to weigh their babies, gently broaching the scandalous topic of AIDS—with the eye of a social scientist and the ear of a poet. It was a long and fascinating trip, and her delightful telling of it has me hoping she'll be packing for another one soon."—Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post

"This is a captivating, riveting book—a must-read not only for medical professionals, anthropologists, and journalists, but for anyone interested in how to negotiate cultural difference in a shrinking world. Fadiman's ability to empathize with the resolutely independent Hmong as well as with the remarkable doctors, caseworkers, and officials of Merced County makes her narrative both richly textured and deeply illuminating. Sometimes the stakes here are multicultural harmony and understanding; sometimes they're literally life and death—whether in wartime Laos or in American emergency rooms. But whatever the stakes and wherever the setting, Fadiman's reporting is meticulous, and her prose is a delight. From start to finish, a truly impressive achievement."—Michael Bérubé, author of Life As We Know It