To Cherish the Life of the World: The Selected Letters of Margaret Mead (Hardcover)

by Margaret Caffrey (Author), Patricia Francis (Author)
Key Phrases: letters from the field, butter letter, first field trip, New York, New Guinea, Ruth Benedict (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
I find I can't get up much enthusiasm for rules," cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote in 1933, in a letter addressed to her female lover, Ruth Benedict, about the tension between her then husband, Reo Fortune, and future husband, Gregory Bateson. A free but highly disciplined spirit dedicated to discovering new cultures and practicing the tenets of open love, Mead was also a prolific writer, whose collected letters have been combined into one volume by Caffrey and Francis, respectively an associate professor at the University of Memphis and curator of a Mead exhibit at the Library of Congress. Assembled with the aid of Mary Catherine Bateson, Mead's only daughter, the cultural anthropologist's vivid dispatches have been categorized by recipient. Addressees include her Philadelphia family, all three of her husbands and several lovers, both male and female, on topics ranging from changing colleges to quelling rumors about her numerous affairs. While Mead's personal relationships tend to be the focus, these connections (particularly with her second and third husbands) were closely intertwined with her professional life. But there is little doubt as to Mead's true obsession: as the writer herself noted to Benedict in 1928, "I think the work is so much more important than any personal issue." Photos. (July)
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From Booklist
It's clear in her expressive and thoughtful letters that pioneering anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-78) made no distinction between professional and personal pursuits, belief and action. The unity and passion of her unusual, paradigm-altering life and work are vividly conveyed in her missives to family, lovers (men and women), friends, and colleagues. This discerning if somewhat confusingly ordered collection begins when Mead goes away to college and continues throughout her sojourns in Samoa, New Guinea, Bali, and the Admiralty Islands; the ups and downs of three marriages and various affairs; and the writing of her momentous books. Mead's forthright correspondence documents the golden years of anthropology and one woman's great courage in defying convention. Manifest at every phase are Mead's independence, curiosity and receptivity; healthy approach to sexuality; and profound fascination with relationships, the foundation for her radical insights into human nature. As Mead's daughter, anthropologist and writer Mary Catherine Bateson, notes in her radiant foreword, her mother "treasured the people in her life." It is also obvious that Mead dearly loved life itself. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 472 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (July 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465008151
• ISBN-13: 978-0465008155
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #660,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)