Ever since the 1967 posthumous publication of parts of Malinowski's field diaries (A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term), the legendary ethnographer has been the subject of a dual fascination—of interest because of both his pioneering ethnographic work and also for what we learned from his diaries about his complex psyche. The disparity between Malinowski's productive public persona and his tormented private soul has puzzled anthropologists ever since. Now, with the publication of Michael Young's Malinowski: Odyssey of an Anthropologist, 1884–1920, we need no longer rely on our own flights of fancy to imagine the totality of Malinowski.

Young presents us with an ambitious literary biography, and an engaging read as well. In this deftly-written account, Young masterfully navigates a diverse terrain of intricate historical detail, lusty amorous adventures, and ethnographic enlightenment, making the book read like adventure story, romance, and anthropological history all wrapped into one. Young shows us how the seemingly incongruent aspects of Malinowski's persona—meticulous researcher, prolific writer, Polish alien enemy, lonely misanthrope, devoted son, passionate lover, tormented human being, and desirous dreamer—all fit seamlessly together.

From the outset, Young lays out his intentions: “I want to show that so much more was happening in Malinowski's life during the various phases of his fieldwork than the detailed accumulation of anthropological data” (p. xxii). Indeed, the anthropological aspects get surprisingly short shrift when compared to what Young shares about the social, political, psychological, and medical strands that make up the legendary figure's life. Just as Malinowski was driven by a desire to understand the native point of view, Young, in true Malinowskian style, doggedly seeks to understand Malinowski's point of view.

In doing so, Young makes his biographical research methods transparent. These consist of the painstaking piecing together of Malinowski's full-bodied life from tattered and dim fragments, such as faded photographs from which he tries to read the lines of Malinowski's pouting mouth or solemn facial expression, trails of postcards Malinowski sent to friends while on a Cook's tour of Europe with his mother, notes he sketched for unwritten books, and always jottings in his diaries. Fortunately for Young, “Malinowski saved almost every document that came his way” (xxix).

The hefty 690-page biography is divided into three parts. Part I (1884–1910) covers in exacting detail (occasionally more thorough than seems necessary) the early part of Malinowski's life: his absent linguist father whose gaze young Malinowski avoided (and who died when Malinowski was fourteen); the enveloping embrace of his doting mother; his early fascination with travel; his love of Frazer's Golden Bough; his admiration for Joseph Conrad and his ability to explore the empire's outposts and return with fabulous tales; his family's social circles in Poland, where “culture became the nation's line of defense” (11); his early experiences with the duality of urban and rural life; his own preoccupation with his physical needs and delicate health (which included near blindness and depression); his unrivaled schooling; his fascination with maps; his youthful love affair with Annie; and his almost obsessive need for self-discipline, as evidenced in his daily exercises in the application of willpower.

Part II (1910–1914) progresses to Malinowski's attraction to English culture and his relocation to London; his studies at the London School of Economics; the influence of the Cambridge expedition to the Torres Strait (which marked the beginning of modern fieldwork-based anthropology in Britain); his friendships with such luminaries as Haddon, Rivers, Seligmann, and Westermarck; and the early stages of his writing. And always, there are Malinowski's many romances, both joyous and draining, in which he totally immerses himself, and which constantly infuse his studies and writing.

Finally, in Part III (1914–1920), Malinowski arrives in New Guinea. He begins his fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands after a circuitous route. He first spends several months in Australia, then works in the Port Moresby area of New Guinea, and then moves on to the island of Mailu on New Guinea's southern coast. During this period, Malinowski's horizon is clouded by news of World War I, by his own sense of alienation from his Polish homeland and mother, and by his longing for the growing trail of women with whom he had fallen in love in England and Australia. His lengthy sojourn in New Guinea (1914–1918) was punctuated by several trips back to Australia to write up his work and visit friends.

Although conducted almost a century ago, Malinowski's research in New Guinea still resonates with much that is familiar to ethnographers today: dependence on intermediaries to make connections in the field; days of despondency and despair; escape into novels, naps, and mail; frequent trips away from the field; and, as Young wanted to underscore in the case of Malinowski, the general sense that life beyond “the field” influences one's research as much as do the lofty ideals of method and theory. When the war is over, Malinowski departs from the Trobriand Islands, confiding in his diary that he is relieved to leave the people and village behind him. He returns to Australia and his wedding with Elsie.

The most precious gems of the book are those rare moments of brilliant insight when Young, who generally shies away from speculative interpretation, consciously unites Malinowski's inner turmoil with his anthropological contributions. One such example is when Young describes how in the Trobriand Islands Malinowski constantly felt in limbo—as though he were passing time, stranded, waiting to leave—and how this dislocating feeling of suspended time may have influenced his ideas about synchrony and functionalism (523).

This impressive volume covers only the first thirty-five years of Malinowski's life (and in the introduction Young hints that a second volume may follow). It ends with Malinowski sailing back to Europe with his “notebooks full of riches” (610), much like Jason returning with his fleece. Although Young has written several other books, this monumental, labor-of-love tome may well be his own golden fleece.