Literacy and Life: Serendipity, Generosity, and Goodwill in the Academic Study of Literacy as Social Practices is a retrospective account of a serendipitous academic life that unfolded over 40 years as an organic interplay of fortunate happenstance, regular acts of collegial kindness, and a personal disposition to spontaneously follow ideas, events, and arguments wherever they led.

Early chapters explore how a chance encounter with Space Invaders players inspired an initial interest in literacy as a phenomenon, and how the work of Paulo Freire led to considering functional literacy and critical literacy as a social praxis. Middle chapters describe how experiences of literacy and everyday life in a rural Nicaraguan village, and exploring literacy in the context of the "new capitalism" of the 1990s, led to multiple rethinkings of critical literacy. Later chapters trace work done over more than 20 years with Michele Knobel around their shared interests in “new literacies” and pedagogical approaches to enhancing teacher research literacy.

Literacy and Life celebrates rich experiences of collegiality and goodwill throughout an entire trajectory of thinking, researching, writing, and teaching about literacy as social practices. Each chapter describes how the author’s activity and endeavor were mediated and powerfully enabled by generosity, collaborative support, sharing, and trust on the part of many people, from many different walks of life in many different countries. Literacy and Life bears witness to a life blessed with everyday experiences where beneficence was very much an enabling and personally liberating norm.

Perfect for courses such as: Literacy in Society; Literacy as Social Practice; Literacy Education: Research, Practice, Policy and Politics; Contemporary Literacies; Literature/Composition courses on Memoir; Approaches to Teaching and Learning in a Complex World; Thinking, Learning and Reflective Practice (Philosophy)