Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty

by Oscar Lewis and Ruth M. Lewis

Book Overview

One of the truly seminal works in modern cultural anthropology, Five Families is a dramatic and forceful account of the men, women, and children of five Mexican families and the impoverished communities in which they live.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465097057
• ISBN13: 9780465097050
• Release Date: December 1975
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR...

I first read this book many years ago, along with some of the author's other works, and decided to take read it again. Time certainly has not diminished the power of the author, winner of the 1967 National Book Award for his book, "La Vida", to take the reader into the lives of others. This is an anthropological work that reads as if it were a riveting novel, so fascinating is its subject matter. The author takes the reader into the lives of five different Mexican families for one entire day, so that the reader can see how it is that they live their lives. The families are both rural and urban and represent a cross-section of Mexico at the time that this book was written. All but one of the families portrayed are poor, yet they all share some similar characteristics. Written during the nineteen fifties, this book is, for the most part, a look at a culture of poverty. It is also a look at a culture that is in transition, shifting from rural to urban with its often resulting poverty and pathology. Yet, it is also a culture into which, North American material comforts and influence were making inroads. That then nascent influence is often reflected in even the poorest of the families laid bare here. The author basically gives the reader a typical day in the lives of each of these families. It is an intimate, objective look that creates a fascinating family portrait. It is a totally engrossing work of not only anthropological import but of historical value, as well. The author has managed to freeze in time a segment of Mexican life during the nineteen fifties. Who would have thought that reading about people shopping, preparing meals, and talking about their relationships would prove to be so fascinating? Those who are interested in other cultures, as well as the way people live their lives, will really enjoy this book. The author provides a fascinating, freeze-frame glimpse into the lives of others. I simply loved this book. Bravo!

I have reread this book 3 times

I first read Five Families when I was a 23yo public health nurse from the Midwest, working in a Mexican-American barrio in East Los Angeles. A co-worker advised me to read this book in order to better understand the families I found myself working with.I devoured it.Then I came to realize that it's a seminal work in modern cultural anthropology, a book that will surely stand the test of time, a 'study' written in a style that makes it accessible to all readers.Five Families is a dramatic and forceful account five poor Mexican families. It's a book that will leave you changed.

Excellent account of differences in Poverty

I just read this book, as I have read his other works. Oscar Lewis gives an extensive complete examination into the lives of extreme poverty. He gives exacting detail of the homes, lifestyles, and characteristics of the poor in Mexico. The last chapter delves with the poor who have accomplished "some wealth" and their upbringing still manages to evolve the same as if they were still poor. Wonderful thorough book!