Ever since the publication of Ishmael in 1992, readers have yearned for a glimpse into a dimension of spiritual revelation the author only hinted at in that and later books. Now at long last they have it in seven profound but delightfully simple tales that illuminate the world in which humans became humans.

This is a world seen through animist eyes: as friendly to human life as it was to the life of gazelles, lions, lizards, mosquitos, jellyfish, and seals — not a world in which humans lived like trespassers who must conquer and subdue an alien territory. It's a world in which humans have a place in the community of life — not as rulers but as equals — with the paths of all held together in the hand of god.

This is not an ancient world or a lost world. It exists as surely today as it ever did — for those who have eyes to see it.

Tales of Adam, delightfully illustrated by Michael McCurdy, is a book that will come to be shelved alongside The Prophet, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and The Alchemist.

Millions of Quinn fans have awaited Tales of Adam, apocrypha from Daniel Quinn's best-selling novel Ishmael. Tales of Adam is told in 12 parables, each beautifully illustrated in lavish woodcuts by acclaimed artist Michael McCurdy. Here Adam, a hunter-gatherer standing at the threshold of human history, passes the gift of wisdom to his son, Abel. Together they observe the natural world around them, learning from the rhythms and actions of predator and prey, the wind and the sea. Using parables and fables, Adam teaches his son how to live in harmony with the world around him, thus illuminating the Law of Life. This book is a soul-stirring exploration of humankind's role in the universe.