Perspective

The perspective of the book is largely first person, written from the author's viewpoint. Since this is a scholarly work, an ethnography in the anthropological tradition, much of the text is also written in the third person point of view, especially when the author describes the fieldwork done by other anthropologists on the same topic. Fieldwork is cited within the text, but the endnotes that follow the appendix give additional insights into others' work among the Bedouins.

The author lived with the Awlad 'Ali tribe for several years, so it's important for her to write about her experiences while there. Her first person point of view writing is humble and honest. She recognizes that she is an outsider but does her best to portray the events, people, and culture as honestly as she can. In order to do this she has to talk about her own background, her...