Belenky has pulled together tangential pieces and parts of his work as a psychologist, educator, and researcher. He presents the good with the bad in a collection from his personal journal, from reports, from tape-recorded interviews of the people he has dealt with--children, mothers, criminals, teachers, comp counselors, juvenile delinquents and colleagues.

With frankness and honesty, he lets the reader in on the open disputes, the racial friction, the "ego trips," and the muddling-through which occur in all experimental projects--but never get reported. He presents real programs and real people from a close perspective.

The result is a welcome antidote to the self-laudatory, jargon-filled memoranda and papers written for the heads of foundations and professional journals. His "ruminations" make indispensable reading for the would-be community mental health architect.

Jonathan Kozol wrote, "Belenky is one of those good men for the sake of whom, it was once said somewhere, whole cities might deserve to be saved. It seems doubtful that either Boston or New York will be saved because of this book, but there is a vast amount here to turn us in the right direction. The candor he displays about the black-white hassles is, for me, the most important part. It seems to me that any group that cuts across the lines of class and race will spare itself a vast amount of heartache and despair if it will pay attention to the kids of things Belenky says. It is an unassuming book, written in a low key, and giving voice to many of the people who have worked beside the author. The low key should not obscure the calm compassion and the gentleness of the bo