Coming of Age in Samoa
Mead's study of adolescent girls in Samoa, arguing that the Sturm und Drang of Western adolescence is cultural, not biological, founded modern cultural anthropology and sparked a debate that continues to this day. Later critiqued and partially refuted, but its influence on 20th century thought about culture, gender, and human nature stands.
Nine months of fieldwork by a 23-year-old who lodged with an American naval family and interviewed girls through imperfect Samoan; from this, sweeping laws about human nature. Decades later, surviving informants said they had been teasing her about their sex lives, a recognized Samoan pastime. The anthropology that followed kept her questions and discarded most of her answers.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
