As in a reflex act, when one hears the name of Paulo Freire one usually thinks of adult literacy. Yes, the Brazilian pedagogue stood out for his methodology to transmit the first letters to people beyond childhood, for the links he established between politics and education, for the criticism of the "banking" model of teaching-learning, but his curiosity – and the many invitations he received throughout his life to write essays, give lectures, inaugurate congresses–, led him to become interested in a host of other topics. With his usual acuity, Freire addresses here issues that are around his central thought: the act of studying, the function of libraries, interaction with books, the very importance of reading, the gradual process of liberation through reading.

The reader will find here an interview, in which Freire responds with good humor to his critics – and even endorses some observations on his youthful thinking – and various texts prepared to be read before an audience, in which, perhaps because of their transient and oral character, he makes a heartfelt call to action. These are therefore speeches that mobilize, pearly reflections of personal memories – for example, the tight evocation of how he learned to read – short and forceful pieces in which some detail of the Freirian corpus is explored to break it down and make it more appealing. True to his community spirit, the author acknowledges that "There is not, strictly speaking, an 'I think,' but an 'we think.'"

Whoever delves into these pages full of optimism will have the opportunity to verify a sharp thesis of the author on Education as a practice of freedom: "The act of studying is an attitude towards the world [...] Studying is not an act of consuming ideas, but of creating and recreating them."