This text by the Italian scholar Franco Ruffini (“A kick to the books. Return from ISTA”), was originally published in the book Les Voyages ou l’ailleurs du théâtre. Hommage à Georges Banu, edited by Catherine Naugrette (Alternatives Théâtrales, Bruxelles, 2013, p. 197-207). Ruffini reflects on his personal experiences in the framework of ISTA - International School of Theatre Anthropology, of which he was one of the founders participating as a member of the scientific staff. After the session of the ISTA in Salento in 1987, Ruffini wrote an essay of about sixty pages (“The Actor and Drama. Theoretical Essay of Theatre Anthropology”) in which he developed the methodological and ethical premises experienced in the practical sessions of ISTA for his scholarly pedagogical activity.