This is one of the most sane and salutary books on this difficult subject ever written. The author, who is the chair of the department of culture and communication at New York University, argues that "without a purpose, schools are houses of detention, not attention." After demolishing some false gods (economic utility, consumership, technology, and multiculturalism) which have been put forward as answers to the crisis of learning in schools, he suggests five new gods which can transform students into activists and critical thinkers. These "narratives" are " The Spaceship Earth" (interdependence), "The Fallen Angel" (we are an error-prone species), "The American Experiment" (dialogue as citizenship), "The Law of Diversity" (vitality and creativity), and "The Word Weavers/The World Makers" (responsibility for the local and the global). Postman's enlightening look at education with meaning and a world-encompassing purview is just what our schools and today's students need. Bravo!