This accessible and informative biography of an acclaimed anthropologist
will appeal to anyone with an interest in anthropology. When Coming of
Age in Samoa was published in 1928, the book quickly became a bestseller
and brought its author to national prominence-a bright, young, and
charismatic anthropologist named Margaret Mead. For the next five
decades, Margaret Mead became the public face of anthropology in the
United States, her strong personality and maverick stance on many issues
generating both acclaim and controversy. This succinct, well-researched
biography traces Mead's life and career, from her upbringing in
Pennsylvania and her college years under the tutelage of esteemed
anthropologist Franz Boaz, through her field work on the islands of
Oceania in the South Pacific, to her later career at the American Museum
of Natural History. Besides many interesting details of Mead's career,
the author examines her three marriages and her circle of friends,
including fellow anthropologist Ruth Benedict and novelist James
Baldwin. The author also presents material not published in other Mead
biographies, including information about existing pages of a manuscript
Mead said she tore up when atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki; her personal and anonymous funding of the American
Anthropological Association when it was in financial straits; and her
support for anthropologists who worked for the government's covert
operations during the Vietnam War era. The work concludes with an
assessment of Mead's career, various criticisms and controversies
generated by her work, and thoughts on what she would say about today's
cultural landscape.
