Into the Heart: One Man's Pursuit of Love and Knowledge Among the Yanomama

In 1975 anthropology student Good went to Venezuelan Amazonia for a 15-month study of the Yanomama, a Stone Age tribe of the rain forest, characterized as ``a fierce people'' by their discoverer, Napoleon Chagnon, also Good's teacher. Within the year, Good had come to admire the Yanomama way of life; he learned their language and moved his hammock into their compound. When the headman suggested that Good needed a wife, he accepted nine-year-old Yarima and waited for her to come of age. He fell in love with Yarima, then, as an outsider, found himself in trouble with Venezuelan officialdom and in danger of losing her. Having stayed 12 years, Good returned to the U.S., bringing his wife with him; he now teaches at Jersey City State College in N.J. His story, written with freelancer Chanoff, is spellbinding on both the anthropological and personal levels. Photos. (Jan.)