Title: Modern Icelandic society for the non-academic reader
Product review: Paul Durrenberger is a US-based anthropologist who has made modern Iceland the focus of his academic research. This book is not a scholarly treatise, but rather a first-hand narrative about the author's experiences as he tries to learn the Icelandic language while working on a farm and insert himself into day-to-day Icelandic life. Although it's not exactly a page-turner, since modern Icelandic life isn't all that exciting or weird, this would be excellent reading for someone planning on visiting Iceland, who wants to go beyond the hackneyed tourist sites and learn something about the people. The book's fatal drawback is Durrenberger's insistance on inserting his left-wing opinions about US politics at every opportunity; he doesn't seem to realize that people are buying the book to learn about Iceland, not to get a lecture about US politics.
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