I remember hearing about this book in my college
anthropology classes…but never placed the title until just recently. It’s
a mystical book, talking about a sexually permissive people on an exotic
Pacific island, living a happy existence, free from Western ideas of morality
and permissiveness. It’s also one of the greatest and most popular
works of anthropological study ever presented, at least until the Yanomamo came
along and Margaret Mead’s book had to share the glory.
Nevertheless, Mead’s work fueled the American Sexual
Revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s, it influenced Dr. Spock and his work on
child rearing (Benjamin Spock was Mead’s pediatrician) and has earned its place
in the pantheon of great American classic works…
But wait...one last thing...don't believe everything you read...it turns out most of the book is bunk. The girls she interviewed basically lied to her as a practical joke and Mead "ate it all up". Samoa was and is not the sexually charged and permissive society as portrayed in this book...FYI.
First edition of Coming of Age in
Samoa
