Gift Certificates How to Order

Anthropology/ Mythology Books in this online selection represent only a sliver of what we offer in the store. If you've got a particular book in mind and want to check on its availability, call us at 415-362-8193.

sort list by title | author The World Until Yesterday What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? Jared Diamond Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its millions of years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf... Orpheus The Song of Life Ann Wroe The captivating "history" of the figure of Orpheus, his enduring legacy as the force and muse of creation itself. In this extraordinary work, Ann Wroe goes in search of Orpheus, tracing the man and through the myriad versions of a fantastical life. Ragnarok The End of the Gods A. S. Byatt A standout entry in Canongate's consistently impressive Myths series, Byatt's treatment of Germanic saga and cosmogony distinguishes itself for the narrative grace of its frame and for its fearless plunge into the heart of the matter. Which in this... Weaponizing Anthropology Social Science in Service of the Militarized State David H. Price The ongoing battle for hearts and minds in Iraq and Afghanistan is a military strategy inspired originally by efforts at domestic social control and counterinsurgency in the United States. Weaponizing Anthropology documents how anthropological... Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe Carl Ruck, Mark Alwin Hoffman, José Alfredo González Celdrán A fascinating tour of the mushroom-centered mystery religions which have profoundly influenced Western civilization Born to Run A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Christopher McDougall An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?  Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative... New World of Indigenous Resistance Noam Chomsky and Voices from North, South, and Central America Noam Chomsky, Lois Meyer, Benjamín Maldonado Interviews with Chomsky accompanied by commentaries by indigenous organizers on globalization and resistance in the Americas Prison/Culture Sharon E. Bliss, Kevin B. Chen, Steve Dickison, Mark Dean Johnson, Rebeka Rodriguez Nearly fifty artists, poets, and activists examine the contemporary prison system through heartrending art and community The Gift Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World Lewis Hyde By now a modern classic, The Gift is a brilliantly orchestrated defense of the value of creativity and of its importance in a culture increasingly governed by money and overrun with commodities. Widely available again after twenty-five years, this... The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm All-New Third Edition Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Perhaps no other stories possess as much power to enchant, delight, and surprise as those penned by the immortal Brothers Grimm. Now, in the new, expanded third edition, renowned scholar and folklorist... The Norse Myths Kevin Crossley-Holland Here are thirty-two classic myths that bring the Viking world vividly to life. The mythic legacy of the Scandinavians includes a cycle of stories filled with magnificent images from pre-Christian Europe. Gods, humans, and monstrous beasts engage in... The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales Brothers Grimm For almost two centuries, the stories of magic and myth gathered by the Brothers Grimm have been part of the way children—and adults—learn about the vagaries of the real world. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-White, Hänsel and Gretel, Little... The Yage Letters William S. Burroughs The Yage Letters: an early epistolary novel by William S. Burroughs, whose 1952 account of himself as Junkie, published under the pseudonym William Lee, ended "Yage may be the final fix." In letters to Allen Ginsberg, an unknown young poet in New...