Reviews

Basing her book on field work and ethnographic data, Levine (anthropology, UCLA) describes polyandry as it is practiced among the Nyinba (a culturally Tibetan group residing in Nepal), examining its effects on the domestic sphere as well as its ramifications in social and cultural life. She moves from a detailed analysis of the structure of Nyinba households based on fraternal polyandry (brothers married to a single woman) to legends, concepts of kinship, social stratification, the economy, etc. Her findings lead her to reject the view that polyandry is primarily economic in basis, while emphasizing Nyinba kinship as ``a structurally autonomous domain of social life.'' A scholarly, detailed work for anthropology graduate students and professionals. Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L.