<p> Mary Catherine Bateson, author of <I>Composing a Life,</I> is our guide on a fascinating intellectual exploration of lifetime learning from experience and encountering the unfamiliar. <I>Peripheral Visions</I> begins with a sacrifice in a Persian garden, moving on to a Philippine village and then to the Sinai desert, and concludes with a description of a tour bus full of Tibetan monks. Bateson's reflections bring theses narratives homes, proposing surprising new vision of our own diverse and changing society and offering us the courage to participate even as we are still learning. </p>