From the washington post in composing a life dr bateson described how she and four other women managed to organize their lives amid conflicting social professional and familial demands she disliked the term juggling to describe the multiple responsibilities placed on women saying in 1996 if i try to juggle i will drop something my job my child my husband my community. Composing a life bateson mary catherine 9780802138040 amazoncom books hardcover. Picking up where she left off in composing a life 1991 anthropologist bateson interviews six older individuals from a retired maine boatyard worker to jane fonda who have accomplished most of their life goals but actively seek new and satisfying ways to live robust lives. Composing a life by mary catherine bateson composing a life is a critically reflecting book on the lives of five women and the challenges they are faced with during their life roles mary catherine bateson has woven together several cross functional areas of. Composing a life is a critically reflecting book on the lives of five women and the challenges they are faced with during their life roles mary catherine bateson has woven together several cross functional areas of study including psychology anthropologymulti national studies and behavioral sciences to explain the societal ethnic and economical pressures that women feel in the varying and ambiguous roles in their life