Little Money Street

This is not really a book about Gitan music but about the life and customs of the Gypsies settled in downtown Perpignan, as told by an American with a lifelong attraction to this culture The style is vivid and the author has not fallen into the trap of romanticizing the miserable life led by most sedentary Gypsies trapped in their closed society.But the book overall left me with an uneasy feeling First there are some gross exaggerations about my country, France, verging on caricature, as when Fr [...]

To begin, a passage that embodies everything that attracted me to and eventually repelled me from Little Money Street The few classical remnants that have been unearthed attest to the area s Mediterranean spirit of metissage, or mixity a deposit of lead votive prayers addressed to the local nymphs, the Niskae, were found by the thermal springs of Arles sur Tech and lost, in 1901 These prayers were composed in a mixture of Celtic, street Latin, and Iberian a non Indo European language which has n [...]

This book is a mess of a non fiction, a wannabe novel that stood up and declared itself to be true, therefore it didn t have to make sense.The narrative can t decide what it wants to be It switches between several stories The first is a somewhat interesting tale of a privileged white woman who thinks Gypsies are magic She tracks down the object of her obsession, and finds it lacking.Meanwhile, factoids about geography, local history, and Gypsy music are vomited out with no regard for narrative f [...]

Four stars because, although the writing is not great, it is a difficult subject and the book is packed with revelatory narrative The author s ambiguity towards her subject is apparent, and I think just about anyone from the mainstream western world would share her mixed feelings On the one hand, the Gypsy culture is fascinating, the people frustratingly endearing, the music poignantly beautiful and I too would dearly wish to interact with them in an intimate and non judgmental way On the other [...]

A friend of mine who lives near Perpignan and with whom I ve spent day outings in Perpignan gave me this book without telling me whether or not she liked it Even before starting to read, I was unimpressed with the jacket description that said this was A portrait of the Gypsies of southwestern France whereas it talks about the Gypsies of Perpignan which is in southeastern France, just a little north of where I live.While reading the book I was alternatively interested and critical It bothered me [...]

I have been meaning to read this book for a long time so I am glad I finally got around to it I have always been interested in gypsies and their culture and living in Spain I am around a lot of them For that reason, I enjoyed the book, however I feel that the author didn t always stay true to her journalisitic integrity while describing certain aspcets of Mediterranean and gypsy life For example, while describing the case of a woman known as Mere Noel Mrs Santa Claus who was arrested while tryin [...]

I know the intention of this book was to be a kitchen table rather than a scientific study of a neighborhood and culture, but the entirety of it frustrated me The tedious minutia of family relations who was whose father was as annoying as the Gitan preference to maintain la loi gitane Fifty years ago the explanation for Gypsy illiteracy was nomadism, how could you go to school when you never spent than a month in the same town Now that the government policies all over Europe have made sure Gyp [...]

This book is about the gypsy people living in Frace and their music It was interesting enough I ve always been curious about gypsys But I felt the author showed a lack of respect for the people she used as her subject matter It was also really annoying to read French passages in the book with no idea what they meant These passages really should have been translated It made the writing seem high brow and detached from the real world Let s face it not all of us are wealthy enough hop on over to Fr [...]

I ve long been intrigued by gypsies This book gave me the beginnings of an understanding of contemporary Gypsy life, especially those in the south of France, and especially wrt family life It also helped me to gain a better understanding of French culture, gypsy music, poverty, European attitudes, and education issues wrt the poor.

I read this over winter break, the writing is so so but the stories about roma families are very interesting The descriptions of gipsy culture are detailed and succesful at portraying a group of people who are in a difficult transition from old to new My favorite part is when they go to a cockfight.

I went to Spain, got hassled by Gypsies demanding money at the bus station, and came back, intent to do some reading on the subject This book was written by a woman researching Gypsy music, and was about the personal relationships she developed with a group that tends to be on the margins of society and closed to outsiders Not the most academic handling, but a good read

I could not get into this book at all The author seemed to think that most of the readers of the book would have a good background in the history of gypsies, which I do not I found myself very lost.

Sorry, Fernanda I don t want to ready your namsy pamsy Look at me travelogue I d rather read the Twilight series And that might be the most mean spirited thing I ve ever written on this site.

Well I wanted to read this book because a blog said it was sublime or some such thing Well it wasn t, but it was quite interesting about a culture I know nothing about.

Excellent and informative book about the Roma Gypsies and their music in Southwestern France.

things u never knew about gypsies

I couldn t renew it any at the library, and it was hard to really get into it although i definitely learned a little, and enjoyed what i did read.

Maybe I ll read this sometime, but for now, it s just too depressing.

Good reference on a hard to find topic prefer scholarly work, but I m not complaining

For those who are seriously interested.