Material World: a Global Family Portrait (Paperback)

The value of each family's possessions, as well as the family's values (what's important to them, etc.) are stressed. However, I noticed that while standard of living may differ considerably, everyone, no matter their location, seems to want bascially the same thing: education, a better life for their children, security, etc. This realization was perhaps the best part of the book for me.

What also impressed me was the fact that this book is filled to the brim. There's no way to read it cover-to-cover, really. Instead, it's more of an experience. It must be taken in. Every time I pick it up, I see something differently, in a new light.

You don't have to be an economist or an anthropologist to enjoy this book. On the contrary, anyone who has any interest at all in the outside world would enjoy it. Because the photographers spent so much time with each family, I truly felt like I was transported to each country, like I had a more complete understanding of what it was like to live there.

The residents weren't just faceless, nameless inhabitants of a distant land but were brought to life. And since it was basically told in their own words, very little to no bias is able to come through. Lastly, I have to congratulate the authors for putting together a balanced portrait of life around the globe. The choices were well-made and quite diverse.

Highly recommended!

The book is organized by continent, and then by country within each continent. Each entry begins with a multi-page photo of the family in front of their house, with of all their possessions. Beside the photo is an enumeration of the possessions that appear in the photo. The remainder of the article is found on the next 3 or 4 pages. There is usually a short summary of statistics about the country, covering such topics as area, population, population density, life expectancy, and rank of affluence among U.N. member countries. But much more informative are a variety of high-quality color photos showing family members going about their daily activities, at work, at school, or eating a meal in the family home. There is a brief text about the family itself, who they are, what they do, and where they live. The photographer also provides a brief summary of his or her experiences while living with the family and taking the photographs. In the photographer's notes are statistics about the work week, the number of radios, telephones, televisions, VCRs, and automobiles. The photographer also asks each family member to identify their most valued possessions and their dreams for the future.

The choice of the family to convey both the ideal and the reality of a typical "American" family was perfect. They have the requisite two children, one of each gender, and a dog. They are shown outside their ranch-style house, with a fairly new pickup truck and minivan in their attached garage. The photographer's idea of commandeering the entire cul-de-sac of the sub-development to showcase the family's possessions for the main photograph does an incredible job at capturing Americans' need for and use of space. (It makes an incredible contrast with the Japanese family, who have just as many possessions or even more, but are photographed with everything crammed together in a tiny block just the width of their house.) The picture of the American family appears on the cover of the book, juxtaposed with the family from Bhutan, with their house and meager possessions perched on a mountainside with no roads in sight. Despite the innumerable differences between the families, there are also many parallels. Both families are obviously proud of what they have and who they are. And in these pictures, and throughout the book, over and over again throughout the world, the family members identify religious objects as their most valued possessions.

In addition to the main chapters, the book also includes short features on televisions of the world, meals of the world, and toilets of the world, as well as appendices with more statistics, contributing photographers' biographies, and a list of more possessions that couldn't be included in the photographs.

Through its photographs, this book does an amazing job at explaining who we are as a human family, and how we are all similar. It also lets us know what life is like for average people around the world, and does a better job at this than any simple listing of statistics or geography text. When I read this book for the first time, I laughed, and even cried upon seeing how little some people in the world actually have to call their own. This was especially moving when I remembered that each family was chosen not because it was picturesque or poverty-stricken, but because it was statistically average. This book should be in every public library, it could be used by homeschoolers as a geography text, but everyone will find something of interest in it. It is one of the 10 most personally influential books that I have read.

If reading this book isn't enough for you, the project also produced a multimedia CD-ROM with added features and a series of children's books with more photographs and information for children about each family. An even more moving sequel called "Women of the Material World" is also available and highly recommended.

Also recommended: Women in the Material World