Customs category: 898 books

The Japanese Tea Ceremony is a detailed examination of the five-centuries-old tea ceremony—or Cha-no-Yu in Japanese, literally "hot water for tea"—a cornerstone of Japanese culture and a core practice of Zen Buddhism. Framed by intricately choreographed steps, the tea ceremony...

Professor Lévi-Strauss’s first major work, Les Structures élémentaires de la Parenté, has acquired a classic reputation since its original publication in 1949; and it has become the constant focus of academic debate about central theoretical concerns in social anthropology. It is, however, a...

Bollywood Weddings examines how middle to upper class second-generation Indian-American Hindus negotiate wedding rituals, including the dating and engagement processes. Many of these couples are (in Ramdya's neologism) 'occasional Hindus' who display their Hindu religious background only on important...

The Metamorphoses of Ovid are a compendium of the Mythological narratives of ancient Greece and Rome, so ingeniously framed, as to embrace a large amount of information upon almost every subject connected with the learning, traditions, manners, and customs of antiquity, and have afforded a fertile...

A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres, During the years 1820 to 1825 At a time when the rich and fertile provinces of South America are daily becoming increased objects of commercial consideration—when their riches and advantages are constantly forming the bases of fresh speculations—and...

Bestselling classic with historical accounts, full-color vintage images, and a selection of recipes from Pennsylvania's Christmas past Originally published in 1959 and written by one of the seminal figures in American folklife studies, this classic work examines the folk origins of Christmas...

No culture is ever completely successful or satisfied with its synthesis of romantic love, companionship, and sexual desire. Whether the setting is a busy metropolis or a quiet farming village, a tension always exists between a community's sexual habits and customs and what it believes to be the proper...

Granet’s original work delves deep into the religious and spiritual customs of ancient China by analysing their festivals and songs from the Book of Odes including the original Chinese script. This translation, originally published in 1932, aimed to present Granet’s observations to a wider English...

Available electronically in an open-access, full-text edition from the Texas A&M University Libraries' Digital Repository at* http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/146845.* Child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Astrid Berg states in her introduction that “South Africa is a microcosm.” It is...

"We are not alone in our worry about both the physical aspect of aging and the prejudice that exists toward the elderly, which is similar to racism or sexism. What makes it different is that the prejudice also exists among those of us who are either within this group or rapidly approaching it....

Go behind the beards in this daring insider’s look at the curious Amish subculture of Pennsylvania Dutch Country! Is the “plain and simple” life really so plain and simple? How do the Amish live without cars? Electricity? NFL football? The truth is, they don’t. More than fifty million...

Nepotism is one of those social habits we all claim to deplore in America; it offends our sense of fair play and our pride in living in a meritocracy. But somehow nepotism prevails; we all want to help our own and a quick glance around reveals any number of successful families whose sons and daughters...

“A useful guide to navigating the often confusing—and always evolving—world of manners at today’s dinner table” (James Oseland, former editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, author of Cradle of Flavor and judge on Top Chef Masters). What’s the right way to hold a wine glass? What’s...

Don't leave home without it! For over twenty years, travelers seeking exciting and rewarding adventures abroad have looked to Bob Kohls for advice and have made Survival Kit for Overseas Living one of the most popular books ever published on crossing cultures, buying over 300,000 copies. With...