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Margaret Mead: A Life
“Engaging . . . a fine biography that gets beyond the public icon to a portrait of the real woman.”— Chicago Sun-Times
At the age of twenty-three, in the 1920s, Margaret Mead traveled alone to the South Sea and wrote of adolescent sexuality and guilt-free love in her now classic Coming of Age in Samoa. For the next half-century, Mead would act as a powerful participant and opinion maker in the largest issues of her culture and religion, education and child rearing, sex and freedom, world hunger, war, and the politics of peace.
Outrageous and extravagant, Mead was, in every sense of the word, spirited. Friendships and families of many kinds were at the core of her personal life, and she was both loyal and demanding with people, always challenging them to move in new directions.
An inveterate world traveler, a teacher at Columbia University, and curator of The Museum of Natural History, Mead wrote thirty-four books, made ten films, and was granted twenty-eight honorary degrees and numerous awards. This intimate and fascinating story is an astonishing record of the personal and scientific life of an extraordinary human being.
Praise for Margaret Mead
“Mead was, as Miss Howard’s abundantly and unfailing lively account shows, a very American individual. . . . Miss Howard writes not as an anthropologist but as the superb reporter she is.” — The Wall Street Journal
“A triumph of industry, imagination, and literary grace.” — The Washington Post
At the age of twenty-three, in the 1920s, Margaret Mead traveled alone to the South Sea and wrote of adolescent sexuality and guilt-free love in her now classic Coming of Age in Samoa. For the next half-century, Mead would act as a powerful participant and opinion maker in the largest issues of her culture and religion, education and child rearing, sex and freedom, world hunger, war, and the politics of peace.
Outrageous and extravagant, Mead was, in every sense of the word, spirited. Friendships and families of many kinds were at the core of her personal life, and she was both loyal and demanding with people, always challenging them to move in new directions.
An inveterate world traveler, a teacher at Columbia University, and curator of The Museum of Natural History, Mead wrote thirty-four books, made ten films, and was granted twenty-eight honorary degrees and numerous awards. This intimate and fascinating story is an astonishing record of the personal and scientific life of an extraordinary human being.
Praise for Margaret Mead
“Mead was, as Miss Howard’s abundantly and unfailing lively account shows, a very American individual. . . . Miss Howard writes not as an anthropologist but as the superb reporter she is.” — The Wall Street Journal
“A triumph of industry, imagination, and literary grace.” — The Washington Post
548 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 9, 2015
A pretty definitive biography of Margaret Mead. I read Euphoria and I was trying to get at more of the "real" story about Mead's work and her personal relationships.(Her autobiography was missing a great deal of the "real dirt.") This book seems to delve into both without making judgements. I was able to meet Mead once in the mid- 1970's when I was still a high-schooler. I didn't appreciate then what an icon she was. Wish I could go back and re-do that day!
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August 11, 2014I had to return this to the library before I finished.
The first 270 pages or so kept my attention but then I lost interest. Her early life, especially her travels, is quite fascinating and I enjoyed trying to draw parallels between this and the fictional Euphoria.
The author presents different and sometimes conflicting views of Mead's life, which creates a layered look at the accomplishments and disappointments of a brilliant but flawed woman.
The first 270 pages or so kept my attention but then I lost interest. Her early life, especially her travels, is quite fascinating and I enjoyed trying to draw parallels between this and the fictional Euphoria.
The author presents different and sometimes conflicting views of Mead's life, which creates a layered look at the accomplishments and disappointments of a brilliant but flawed woman.
July 28, 2015
This is an excellent biography of Margaret Mead. I loved learning so much rich information about her youth, her personal life as an adult, as well as her work in anthropology. This book is extremely detailed and thorough, and gave me a lot to think about and reflect upon. It's a beautifully textured portrait of a fascinating life.
October 9, 2014
I picked up this book to read more about Margaret Mead's life after having read the fictionalized account based on her life in Euphoria by Lily King.
Margaret Mead's life was very interesting; however, this biography did not grab me. The style was dry and often tedious. Periodically, there were glimpses of humor and daring of the main subject but more often there were odd pieces of bad poetry written about her or by her.
This is the kind of biography that puts me off of non-fiction. I only got about half way through the book when I put it down and never was interested in picking it up again.
Margaret Mead's life was very interesting; however, this biography did not grab me. The style was dry and often tedious. Periodically, there were glimpses of humor and daring of the main subject but more often there were odd pieces of bad poetry written about her or by her.
This is the kind of biography that puts me off of non-fiction. I only got about half way through the book when I put it down and never was interested in picking it up again.
March 20, 2012
A role model in many ways for women of all times. Controversial, decided, head-strong, impervious to those who would knock her down, ultimately the crafter of a life that left a legacy of example for thinking women.
November 28, 2022
Obviously intensively researched but not told in a very compelling way, not for me anyway. There are hints of the woman behind the hype but these come off more as asides. The length of the biography is daunting where there are pages and pages of just stating facts. Just an ok biography.
November 10, 2019
She really was a most interesting woman, but not in the way I expected. I knew her popularity with academics and the public had waxed and waned several times over the years, and i thought she would have been more pedantic and intellectual. In fact she sounds to have been quite approachable. She was unbelievably bossy, but charmed pretty much everyone around her and was much loved by extended family and a huge number of friends to whom she was very attentive though many lived far away, not to mention all the scientists and other academics who admired her, though of course many did not.
It made me sad that when she was in a seemingly perfect marriage of like minds, they couldn´t remain together.
The most lasting impression I have of this book is that it made me tired just reading about how busy she was, how involved in so many huge projects all at the same time, and how much she accomplished in her life.
It made me sad that when she was in a seemingly perfect marriage of like minds, they couldn´t remain together.
The most lasting impression I have of this book is that it made me tired just reading about how busy she was, how involved in so many huge projects all at the same time, and how much she accomplished in her life.
June 9, 2022
DNF @ 20%. I don’t know how much I didn’t enjoy Margaret Mead as a person and how much I was just struggling with being in a modern mindset while reading about the racist, sexist, homophobic perspectives of anthropologists 100 years ago. I will say, the book was well-written and interesting otherwise. (I particularly loved a story of Mead and friends finding the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s house and showing up there at midnight on May Day with a basket of flowers, so star-struck they were practically speechless!)
August 4, 2021
I love how Jane Howard poses the question to herself in the last chapter: Did you like Margaret Mead? That answer has to be complicated, indeed. I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention to Mead and the issues surrounding her work while she was alive. I was certainly an adult for the last 25 years of her life - I was just too busy, I guess. At any rate, this is an absorbing, readable biography of a fascinating woman and I highly recommend it.
January 1, 2022
I’ve never read a biography that reminded me so much of my mom.
October 15, 2018
I purchased this book in 2000 (I know because the Half Priced Books receipt was stuck inside) when I was taking anthropology and women's study course at A&M for my humanities and electives. It then has traveled to several homes with me and sat on my bookshelves. When I learned that the Museum of Natural History in NYC (which I will be visiting in Oct) has a section named for her and that she worked there for years, I decided the time to finally read this had come!
A long book about a full life. She did so much and knew so many people and traveled to so many places and was on so many committees and in so many groups and this book tried to capture all of it. I am glad I read it but it did get long in places (and no map!).
It was super fun to see her cloak in the Mus Natural History and we also saw one of her residences in Greenwich. Like Mead, I love ritual and I love learning about others and being busy and continually adding lots of new friends. She made a mark on our culture for sure.
A long book about a full life. She did so much and knew so many people and traveled to so many places and was on so many committees and in so many groups and this book tried to capture all of it. I am glad I read it but it did get long in places (and no map!).
It was super fun to see her cloak in the Mus Natural History and we also saw one of her residences in Greenwich. Like Mead, I love ritual and I love learning about others and being busy and continually adding lots of new friends. She made a mark on our culture for sure.
March 30, 2020
Fabulously thorough!
December 31, 2016
This is an extensive review of Margaret Mead's life; her anthropological trips, her marriages, her writing, her relationships, her family. She was a monumental presence in her time, not always beloved but a woman who felt she could do anything..and did much of that.
January 6, 2008
I only read a few sections of this book before I forgot it at my parent's house over christmas. I enjoyed what I read. Margaret Mead was a fascinating woman.
Want to read
October 4, 2010Summer 2010, about half way done. . . very interesting woman!
February 21, 2012
I had this on the shelf for awhile - so glad I finally read it.
October 25, 2012
I think Margaret Mead was very cool. I will read anything about her.
January 21, 2016
Interesting read on Margaret Mead's life. Such a fascinating woman who lived a dynamic life and left an enduring legacy.
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August 1, 2016Scobie Pond Book Group
July 4, 2013
Read this in my 20s and thought it was really interesting
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews