Thomas Belomonte rules!

Some memoirs from his ethnographic odyssey. "The Broken Fountain" - marvellous work. Piece of art. Poetic and technical. Literality knock-out. Literary conquest. Excellent for those who are afraid to "go out" or do not know how or just panic.

"Participant observation was a means to an end, but it was also an end in itself. It was an immersion in otherness, a prolonged listening, an alteration of self."

"In those early days I was apprehending only the surface of things, but there is much to be learned from surfaces."

"Most anthropological fieldworkers do not choose their informants. The informants choose them."

"Human experience rarely accumulates in neat patterns and piles. People do not grow like crystals."

"The real world is very much with poor families. They live close to the sources of their own daily reality. Anger is violence. Love is touch. Food is security. Money is blood."

"Hatred is a poor organizer."