- Lord of the Dance : The Mani Rimdu Festival in Tibet and Nepal by Richard J. Kohn
(Suny Series in Buddhist Studies (Paper))
- Life and Death on Mt. Everest : Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering by Sherry B. Ortner 320 pages (August 9, 1999) Highly recommended.
- Tigers of the Snows and other Virtual Sherpas by Vincanne Adams
296 pages (October 30, 1995) clever ethnographic study of the popularized image of the Sherpa as (1)a western cultural icon and (2) a determining factor in Sherpas' own images of themselves. Recommended.
- Claiming the High Ground : Sherpas, Subsistence, and Environmental Change in the Highest Himalaya by Stanley F. Stevens
Hardcover (April 1993)
- Sherpas: Reflections on Change in Himalayan Nepal by James F. Fisher
(Paperback - June 1990) With a foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary. an ex-Peace Corps anthropologist who had lived in Sherpa communities during the 1960's comes back to interview Sherpas in the 1990's about love, money, family, politics, and religion. Describes the curious natural affinity between Himalayan Sherpa and heartland North American cultures. Highly Recommended.
- High Religion by Sherry B. Ortner
Paperback - 269 pages (September 1, 1989) A Cultural and Political History of Sherpa Buddhism. Beautifully written, theoretically uncluttered account of Zhung (Junbesi) Gompa's history and culture. Retells the old stories of the Sherpa passage from Kham into Solu & Khumbu, and how the Sherpa clans began. Highly recommended.
- Sherpas Through Their Rituals by Sherry B. Ortner
(June 1978) Highly recommended.
- Sherpas Transformed : Social Change in the Buddhist Society of Nepal by Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf
Sterling Publishers Ltd. Bangalore (India) 1984. 197 pgs, indexed. Over his long anthropological career, Furer-Haimendorf studied many Himalayan societies in Nepal, Tibet, and India. However, after he lived in Khumjung during the 1950's, he especially loved & admired Khumbu Sherpa life. The Sherpas Transformed was written in 1983, when F-H returned to Khumjung to analyze the radical social changes that ocurred when the Sherpa economy shifted from India-Tibet trade to the trekking & climbing industries. A classic, written with obvious affection. Hard to find in USA (easy to find in Kathmandu). Highly Recommended
- The Sherpas of Nepal : Buddhist Highlanders by Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf
Recommended.
- Himalayan Traders by Christoph von Fèurer-Haimendorf
Prof. Von Furer-Haimendorf studied Khumbu Sherpa culture in the 1950's and 1960's, before the onset of the trekking industry. Fascinating observations on traditional (now, partially lost) Sherpa lifestyle. [Time Books International New Delhi 1988. (Original publishers, John Murray, London.) 316 pgs indexed. Recommended.
- Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing as told by Tenzing to James Ramsey Ullman
A charming interview with Tenzing, often known as Tenzing Norgay or Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who accomplished the first ascent of Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953. Honest reflections on Sherpa life in Darjeeling in the 30's, 40's, and 50's, plus marvelous stories of Tenzing many previous mountaineering adventures in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet. Includes wonderful tale of his travels across pre-occupation Tibet with the eccentric Tucci. Hard to find. [George Harrap London 1955.] Highly Recommended.
- The Tibetan Symbolic World - A Psychoanalytic Exploration by Robert Paul
Tiresome, academic, but comprehensive description of Sherpa Buddhist society from the Freudian analytical perspective. [Originally published by the University of Chicago Press 1982. 346 pgs, indexed. ISBN 81-208-0568-2] In India printed as The Sherpas of Nepal - In the Tibetan Cultural Context by Robert A. Paul, Motilal Banarsidass edition 1987.
- Living in the Middle : Sherpas of the Mid-Range Himalayas by Donna M. Sherpa
A very personal account of one Pennsylvania high-school teacher's marriage to a Sherpa man from Pharak. Describes traditional family life in his village, relationships with relatives, tourists, etc., plus the trials and tribulations of their somewhat isolated life in the USA. Not well researched, contains a number of factual errors and incomplete tables. However the writing is sincere.
- Sherpa of Khumbu : People, Livestock, and Landscape (Studies in Social Ecology and Environmental History) by Barbara Brower
- Nima : A Sherpa in Connecticut by Elizabeth Fuller
[Published by Dodd Mead Publication date: May 1984 ISBN: 0396083048]
- The Sherpas in the Solu District by Hans Guldberg Axelsen
A preliminary report on ethnological field research in the Solu District in North-Eastern Nepal.
- Folk Tales of Sherpa and Yeta (Nirala Series-10 ) by Shiva Dhakal
- Rhythms of a Himalayan Village by Hugh R. Downs
Beautifully photographed and poetically captioned journal of one man's personal transformation during his studies with a traditional Sherpa Lama artist. Highly Recommended
- Bridging Worlds: A Sherpa's Story
Bridging Worlds brings us Pemba Sherpa's unique perspective on the vastly different worlds of Nepal and the United States. Pemba and his co-author, James McVey, take the reader on Pemba's life journey from a poor, remote Nepalese village in the Khumbu, to accomplished mountaineer, expedition leader, and successful U.S. businessman - and back to Khumbu where his journey began, to build a bridge, hydroelectric power plant, and bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in earthquake relief to his native people.