Speaking from the heart on a wide range of topics - religion and the spirit, writing and language, families and identity, politics and social change - Walker begins with a moving autobiographical essay in which she describes her own spiritual growth and the roots of her activism, including reflections about religion in The Color Purple. She goes on to explore many important private and public issues: being a daughter and raising one, dreadlocks, banned books, civil rights, gender communication, and the ritual mutilation of children in Ghana. She writes about Zora Neale Hurston and Salman Rushdie and offers advice for Bill Clinton, for Fidel Castro, and for young women growing up. She comments on culture and cats, feminism and race, writing and living. Here are a wise woman's thoughts as she interacts with the world today, and an important portrait of an activist writer's life.