Coming in Age in Samoa is a frank and beautiful book, incisive and original, leavened with charm and humor. Dr. Mead describes the basic principles of Samoan life which shape attitudes and behavior from birth and maturity, and vividly portrays the moral and social problems adolescents have to solve and the values that guide them in their solutions. Among the subjects Dr. Mead discusses are, education, family relationships and rivalry, community life, post marital sex taboos, homosexuality, the role of the dance, personality and temperament and religion.