A Life Well Lived
This book is a fascinating memoir of an anthropologist whose field studies took him to areas in South America where the indigenous people had never been studied. He was also in Africa and in a position to help when AIDS broke out with such vengeance. His career led him to study many areas and to learn so much from the indigenous people. Instead of bringing the bossy white man to 'civilize' them, he became one of them (as much as possible). That created a great learning experience as these tribes were not all that naive and tended to only show their expected lives and traditions, not what they actually had. He brought a new way to study societies to the world of anthropology. It is surprising that all of the Ph. D.s that were out in the field had not considered the partnership approach as a best method. He was in the field to see the effects of the plantation system, mineral mining, apartheid, and lives of freed slaves centuries later and to bring that to the world to see. This is a very long book, but I could have read another 200 pages to get more details about this man's life. The author writes smoothly and the subject matter is fascinating. I would enjoy being a fly on the wall when he and his buddies sit around and hoist a few.

This is a captivating look at the life of Green who was first a child of a diplomat who traveled extensively and then became a highly regarded medical anthropologist who embedded himself into remote locations across the globe. As someone who loves to study I was so interested in the idea of studying a group of people and their culture for years on end. What a life! Also, as someone who grew up as the AIDS crisis was evolving and lost a family member in the early days I’m grateful to Green for getting involved where it was needed most.
The fact that Green suffers from imposter syndrome as one of the most influential and inspiring scientists in modern times is eye-opening. Don’t we all feel that at times?