Customer Reviews

Keep the River on Your Right

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first read this beautifully crafted work in 1977. Shortly thereafter I had the great pleasure to meet Tobias in Northern California where he presented a slide lecture on his life among the Asmat of New Guinea. There is no question in my mind that Keep the River on Your Right is a work of non fiction. It is an astonishing journal as brutally honest as any I've ever read. It deserves to be in the pantheon with Beaudelaire (Intimate Journals), and Broughton (The Androgyne Journal). I've just reread this timeless work after 23 years after having recently seen the documentary on Tobias' life which no doubt will bring a new generation of readers to this elegantly written masterpiece.

If the life of this man seems incredible, it is because the man himself is incredible. I have just seen the world premire of a documentary entitled "Keep The River On Your Right" in which Tobias returns with the filmmakers and relives his journey through Peru.He is 78 years old and not only did they find some of the tribes-people that he lived with while there, those same people remembered him, after 48 years. There need be no more proof of the validity of his book than that.

Even beyond the text of this book, Tobias's life offers a larger lesson, and that is one of acceptance and understanding of every human being and culture. I hope that people will continue to read this book and that this message will be taken into the hearts of the readers as a new way to live life.

We see from Stephen O. Murray and his ilk, a desire to suppress this important journey and its journal, by pretending it is not `scientific'. Schneebaum describes himself as a 'Painter' - not an anthropologist, and nor does he attempt to write in a scientific way.

Insight into our own ignorance is an important part of scientific study; on occasion it can be a sufficient condition. I congratulate Schneebaum for making this and other journeys, and for the memoirs these create.

This is most certainly not a textbook, or anything resembling a scientific treatise or paper. It is a stained glass window, decorated by Schneebaum's own homosexuality (sexual fantasy and desire). He views the `cannibals' from this perspective, and they view him in an equally astounding way. I recently saw Schneebaum on TV, and his current boyfriend explains Schneebaum's desire for an `aroused native'. Re-read this book from Schneebaum's perspective, and a flood of insight into this important people is revealed; rather like the Sun bursting through the colored window, illuminating the dark room within.

Reviewer S. O. Murray appears to consider himself a voice of authority; possessed indeed by an intellect surmounted only by his overwhelming ignorance. His reviews are based on conjecture, rather than the content of the book or document reviewed. Ignore him, he is just incapable of understanding; blinded by the heavy drapes over his window.

Schneebaum is an unusual man. When you first hear of him you might think maybe too unusual. Thats where you need to look at the man and his journey from a larger perspective. The book has much to tell us about about respect for other cultures and about how to relate to people who don't see the world in the same way we do. If you keep an open mind, you will enjoy getting inside the mind of a very caring and empathetic man.

Managed to see advance press screener of the new documentary based on Tobias Schneebaum's life called Keep the River On Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale - the film was so mesmerizing and Mr. Schneebaum so articulate and intriguing I immediately ordered the original memoir by Schneebaum and read it in one sitting. An important "lost" book from the Sixties thank god restored to it's original importance.

The viewing of the documentary film prompted me to buy this book. I found it to be a fascinating journey that was both culturally and spiritually incredible. The book challenges the reader and our civilization as to the core of our happiness, connection and vitality. Tobias provides us with a heart felt experience of living with a primative culture and expands our spiritual awareness.

If I had not sat next to the author at a dinner party shortly after the book was published, I would not have believed this story, either. I do believe it is true and all the stranger for it. One of the most bizarre adventure stories ever written. Don't miss it!

In the past year anthropologists have prove beyond a doubt that cannibalism existed in the Americas. If you have seen the new documentary Keep the River on Your Right, which uses Schneebaum's lovely memoir as a starting point you realize that Schneebaum was before his time. Cynics have said he made it up, while it's hard to argue with living witnesses. The book itself is vividly written and engaging.

Hawilson's comments (below) reflect a very limited mind. I know Toby Schneebaum, and have no doubt in my mind that this book is, indeed, non-fiction. Schneebaum is in every way a remarkable man. The reader should celebrate the world depicted in this book, not feel threatened by it, thereby dismissing it, as hawilson has done.

if you are looking for a reading experience that is unique (not kind of, sort, of or very--none of which are unique) this book is it. in flight from loveless doldrums of his life, schneebaum, a painter and seeming nebish, launches himself, weaponless and without an agenda, into the unknown. he opens himself totally to the experience of whatever may befall him. abandons all expectation, denies fear the power to control his experience, and walks into uncharted jungle to meet and share life with an apparently murderous tribe of flesh eating headhunters. the jungle, the tribe, and the relationships he establishes are all facinating. what is stunning for me is his willingness to stick with describing his own experience, without judging, explaining, interpreting or desmystifying any of it. he always acknowledges the mystery and incredible unknowability of reality and in so doing the terrible and inspiring beauty of it. not what it ought to be, but what it is like for him, always a mystery. what it could be like for us had we the courage. I don't , but it is a great read about someone who does.