For many of us, one of the most important ways of coping with the death of a close relative is talking about them, telling all who will listen what they meant to us. Yet the Gypsies of central France, the Manu, not only do not speak of their dead, they burn or discard the deceased's belongings, refrain from eating the dead person's favorite foods, and avoid camping in the place where they died.
In "Gypsy World," Patrick Williams argues that these customs are at the center of how Manu see the world and their place in it. The Manu inhabit a world created by the "Gadzos" (non-Gypsies), who...