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So, you probably have figured out by now that two topics near and dear to me are gender and education. The conference I just attended in Dublin addressed both. My research generally looks at both.

Well, even those who are not devoted to the topics of gender and education should read the new book out by Ayaan Hirsi Ali called "Infidel" (Free Press, February 2007).

This is one of the most fascinating autobiographies I have ever read, and I have read a lot. Especially by women.

Ali chronicles her youth growing up a Muslim in a variety of countries: Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya. Though her life is fraught with challenges, she perseveres and ultimately triumphs over obstacles that would have caused many of us to give up.

Her primary struggle involves both her gender and her religion. She wants desperately to be a good Muslim, follow Allah and go to paradise, but she cannot reconcile how women are treated in the Koran and by those who follow it.

She watches her mother's life fall apart after her father leaves to take another wife. With little education and no skills, her mother is left to beg from relatives and clan members to keep her family minimally fed and clothed.

Ali is determined that she not end up like her mother. And she does not. She manages to evade arranged marriages, the wrath of her beloved father and religious fanatics who seemed bent on silencing her.

This book made me think deeply about the privileges I take for granted as a woman in a democratic society.

It also made me think long and hard about the plight of other women around the world -- not unlike you and me -- who just want the freedom to pursue their dreams.

(You can find the book on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743289684/disneyfamily-20)