The second edition of Professor of Anthropology Emeritus Douglas Raybeck’s Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the Errant Anthropologist: Fieldwork In Malaysia was recently published by Waveland Press, Inc. Originally published in 1996, the book recounts Raybeck’s adventures (and misadventures) while doing fieldwork in Southeast Asia.
According to the publisher, the book includes “rich descriptions of Kelantanese society and culture” and “insight into the human dimension of the fieldwork undertaking.” Raybeck also addresses important considerations such as building rapport with research subjects and how to obtain reliable information. New to the second edition is an extensive epilogue.
Prominent anthropologist Rosemary Firth called the book “a gem,” saying it is “beautifully written, dryly comic and wryly self-mocking, at root it is a thoughtful and critical contribution to the aims and field techniques of our profession.”
Margaret Bodemer of California Polytechnic State University described Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the Errant Anthropologist as “an engaging, entertaining, and highly readable introduction to the challenges and joys of doing ethnography.”
