Krippendorf's Tribe [Paperback]

Frank Parkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 1998

When unemployed anthropologist James Krippendorf spends his grant money and is nowhere near completing his paper on an Amazon tribe, he invents the Shelmikedu tribe--which bears an uncanny resemblance to his three children, Shelly, Mickey, and Edmund.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To qualify for a research grant (to pay for his Volvo, his daughter's voice lessons and a vacation), house-husband and anthropologist manque James Krippendorf invents an Amazonian tribe, the Shelmikedmu, whose name and behavioral traits are inspired by his somewhat savage children, Shelley, Mickey and Edmund. He writes several well-received tracts on the "tribe" and publishes lurid photos of the children, their babysitter, and the mother of one of their schoolmates in Exotica, a soft-porn magazine formerly known as the British Journal of Structural Anthropology. Krippendorf's fantasy tribe and reality soon merge beyond recognition, as he and his offspring dine on the remains of their dead nanny and celebrate in ritual Shelley's first menstruation. The domestic and academic spoofery in this unsettling black comedy are a bit facile, but Parkin eventually persuades the reader fully of Krippendorf's mania, and the laughter it inspires partially redeems the more grotesque and tasteless aspects of the story.January 24
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

British anthropologist James Krippendorf invents an Amazonian tribe to qualify for a research grantthe money actually having been spent on a new Volvo, a vacation, and elocution lessons. The tribe, the Shelmikedmu, is patterned after and named for his three relatively uncivilized children, Shelley, Mickey, and Edmund. Krippendorf writes a series of popular articles on the tribe, accompanied by salacious photos of his children and several unsuspecting women, for the pseudo-anthropological journal, Exotica. Bizarre rituals, cannibalism, and incest are the improbable result as Krippendorf and family succumb to the fantasy of tribal life. While the plot may strain credulity, Parkin makes this closely observed and deftly written black comedy work surprisingly well. Laurence Hull, Stanly Cty. P.L., Albemarle, N.C.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Delta (February 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385332815
• ISBN-13: 978-0385332811
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,333,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Bad science, but great TV, June 7, 2011

By 

KnC Books "kncbooks" (Inland Empire, CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Krippendorf's Tribe (Paperback)

A science experiment gone terribly wrong, or a daring foray into reality TV? Frank Parkin takes time out from his straight sociology nonfiction to posit what happens when research goes searching.

"Krippendorf's Tribe" could be a script for the next network "reality" offering. OK, maybe its a little over the top for primetime, but certainly not by much!

While it may have been shocking to the sensibilities in the mid-1980's, Frank Parkin's novel would fit right in to the 'entertainment' values of today's jaded viewers. Is turning his family into a mythical tribe any more outlandish than making yourself at home with the Osborne's? Stranded schoolteachers in a quest to be the last survivor? Paris Hilton down on the farm?

While not badly written, "Krippendorf's Tribe" just didn't strike any chords with me. The characters are just a little too disassociated, distant not just from each other and themselves (which is kind of the point), but from the reader. I couldn't find anything to relate them to - and I have a wide range of relations!

Which I suppose would make it perfect for reality television. If you like Survivor of the Dancing Bachelorettes, this will be right up your alley.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, April 12, 2001

By 

"ahmadku" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Krippendorf's Tribe (Paperback)

This book is one of the best I have read this year. If you can find it, I would highly recommend it.

As for the story, it centers around James Krippendorf. He is a professor who has squandered all of his grant money and is forced to invent the Shelmikedmu tribe. This is where all similarities between the book and movie end. In the book, James receives a lucrative offer from Exotica, an "anthropological" journal which is tantamount to a magazine filled with the nude pictures one would see in National Geographic.

Krippendorf, to get some photos of Shelmikedmu females, seduces and photographs a number of women whom he becomes familiar with, including a babysitter and one of his son's classmates' mother. Throughout the entire book, while he is carrying out these schemes, his unruly children are creating a maelstrom of destruction around the house. Eventually, the children turn wild and start to live in a treehouse and adopt the Shelmikedmu's "customs". This leads to some interesting and hilarious complications.

The best part of this book by far is Krippendorf. The way he acts is reminiscent of Ignatius Reilly in "A Confederacy of Dunces" in that he sees nothing wrong with his behavior and nonchalantly accepts his childrens' overly unruly behavior. For example, when one of his sons shoots the neighbors' dog with a BB gun, instead of being mad, Krippendorf simply promises him a new gun if his son keeps quiet about it.

This book is definitely not for kids, due to its adult subject matter. Like a previous reviewer, I also find it curious that Disney would make a movie out of it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A black comedy mixing single fatherhood,anthro & cannibalism, March 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Krippendorf's Tribe (Paperback)

A look at how an anthropologist who has read too many "Sunday Sport" newspapers raises his family. It is very funny but its subject matter rates at least an R. If you like Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing", the movie "Heathers", or boundless British humor, go for it. You will enjoy it.

However, how Disney can possibly be making a movie of a book about National Geographic style pornography, cannibalism and the like is beyond me.

If you are a parent who is buying this book because you saw, or heard about the movie, please read it before giving it to any kid below the age of 17.