brenford007 's review for:

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett

2.0

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I wanted to like this book more, but it seemed unsure of its raison d’etre. Was this book meant to be an autobiography or a critique of Noam Chomsky’s linguistic theories? For having spent half of one’s life among the Piraha, there are relatively few anecdotes within the book to share with his audience. SPOILER: I would further hazard to guess that leaving one’s faith would be a significant process, so I was rather disappointed to find that his book only tacks this story on towards the end. Furthermore, he dances around the consequences of leaving his faith without actually discussing the fallout around it. I would’ve liked to learn more about the Piraha and the author and his experiences more than detailed linguistic theories.