Famous for his book PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, kicked out of countries for daring to train farm workers and laborers in literacy and critical appraisal, Paulo Freire takes us behind the scenes and shows us what he was thinking, doing, and feeling throughout his long and radical career.

Reading his other work, one might have guessed, say, that when he was much younger, the good doctor was blasted during a lecture on Piaget by a laborer who stood up and asked him on what side of town Freire lived and whether HIS household crammed several unwashed and hungry children into one room. But such anecdotes are of invaluable worth in showing how Freire learned what he learned--painfully.

That the reader can sense in his wordplay that finally the man who'd done so much for others took this opportunity to wane autobiographical may cause a smile or two. But it shouldn't be mistaken for narcissism or pomposity. An activist and faithholder in people oppressed and in despair has earned the right to his eloquence, and it's nice to feel him enjoying it here and there.

For the student of human nature, Freire's own (alas, briefly mentioned) childhood of poverty and early struggles will be of interest thanks to Freire's own take: that these didn't determine his later life so much as gave him tools with which to empathize with other marginalized people. Reading this, I thought of James Hillman's "acorn" notion: that the soul comes into life knowing what it needs, even if it needs unsparing adversity. To a man like Freire, adversity is not an "opportunity"--a manically cheery thesis--so much as the canvas from which he works.