Ishmael

Staff Pick

For those of us who have been in the rat race of modern culture long enough that we have stopped thinking, and for those of us who have never deeply examined our place in the world, this book is an awakening. It just may change the way you think about everything. Ishmael is a teacher, unlike any you have ever met, with a final mission — to teach man about fixing the ills of the modern world before it's too late. This book is a must read, and a wonderful eye-opener.
Recommended by Linda, Powells.com

Quinn believes that we have a finer and more exciting destiny than conquering the world, and he shares his ideas with us through the voice of a lowland gorilla named Ishmael. This is a beautiful story about hope for the future, about ideas once so familiar to us that we lived them everyday. If you would like to see a better world, I can think of no finer place to start than with Ishmael.
Recommended by Linda, Powells.com

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johnduffman, September 2, 2011 (view all comments by johnduffman)
One of my favorite books!

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Mark Joseph, January 22, 2011 (view all comments by Mark Joseph)
Of all of the books I've read, this is probably the one that most deserves the epithet "mesmerizing." Falling into the "quest for wisdom" genre, it is nevertheless completely different from any other book in the same genre in that the teacher is a gorilla, who represents nature, and his teaching is presented to a human being, who presumably represents modern culture and civilization.

Hmm, reading the paragraph I've just written makes it sound like this would not be an interesting book. And, if one is looking for the latest romantic vampire shoot-'em-up, one might well be disappointed. But if one is looking for an absolutely riveting intellectual journey, at least life-affecting if not life-changing, "Ishmael" delivers the goods with an incandescent look at how nature works ("the law of limited competition"), and how we have disrupted and destroyed it to make room for an impoverished landscape consisting of humans and the few species that can coexist with humans. Political conservatives (who know nothing) and religious fundamentalists (who think they know everything) will be outraged, and really, what higher recommendation can be given to a book?

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claire bruncke, January 20, 2011 (view all comments by claire bruncke)
If you have ever contemplated the meaning of life - you're just one of us. We've all sat and wondered what it is all about. In Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, we get a glimpse into the deeper meaning of life. The incredible opportunity to learn the meaning of life, and form a gorilla at that. This book opens your eyes to things you've never even thought about. It teaches us lessons we didn't know we wanted to learn. It opened my eyes to all things possible and magical. I couldn't put it down and I'm glad I didn't. If I had the opportunity to meet and experience what Ishmael has to offer, my life would change dramatically. The opportunity the book gives you is close enough to change my outlook on life - which is good enough. The words in this book make you think, and encourage you to look at yourself in a whole new way. Ishmael is refreshing and beautiful.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780553375404

Author:

Quinn, Daniel

Author:

Quinn, Mdaniel

Publisher:

Bantam Books

Location:

New York : Bantam/Turner Book, 1992.

Subject:

Literary

Subject:

Fiction

Subject:

Human ecology

Subject:

Visionary & metaphysical

Subject:

Gorilla

Subject:

Human ecology -- Fiction.

Subject:

Didactic fiction

Subject:

General Fiction

Subject:

Literature-A to Z

Edition Description:

Trade paper

Series Volume:

104-24

Publication Date:

19950531

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Yes

Pages:

272

Dimensions:

8.24x5.30x.72 in. .58 lbs.