Ishmael: A Novel

Daniel Quinn

Dec 2009 · Ishmael Series Book 1 · Sold by Bantam

About this ebook

One of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published, Ishmael has earned a passionate following. This special twenty-fifth anniversary edition features a new foreword and afterword by the author.
 
“A thoughtful, fearlessly low-key novel about the role of our species on the planet . . . laid out for us with an originality and a clarity that few would deny.”—The New York Times Book Review

Teacher Seeks Pupil.
Must have an earnest desire to save the world.
Apply in person.

It was just a three-line ad in the personals section, but it launched the adventure of a lifetime.

So begins an utterly unique and captivating novel. It is the story of a man who embarks on a highly provocative intellectual adventure with a gorilla—a journey of the mind and spirit that changes forever the way he sees the world and humankind’s place in it.
 
In Ishmael, which received the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship for the best work of fiction offering positive solutions to global problems, Daniel Quinn parses humanity’s origins and its relationship with nature, in search of an answer to this challenging question: How can we save the world from ourselves?
 
Explore Daniel Quinn’s spiritual Ishmael trilogy:
ISHMAEL • MY ISHMAEL • THE STORY OF B

Praise for Ishmael

“As suspenseful, inventive, and socially urgent as any fiction or nonfiction you are likely to read this or any other year.”—The Austin Chronicle

“Before we’re halfway through this slim book . . . we’re in [Daniel Quinn’s] grip, we want Ishmael to teach us how to save the planet from ourselves. We want to change our lives.”—The Washington Post

“Arthur Koestler, in an essay in which he wondered whether mankind would go the way of the dinosaur, formulated what he called the Dinosaur’s Prayer: ‘Lord, a little more time!’ Ishmael does its bit to answer that prayer and may just possibly have bought us all a little more time.”—Los Angeles Times

Ratings and reviews

I see a lot of bad reviews for this book from people who adequately represent our taker culture. As a matter of fact, Mr. Quinn discusses this response in the sequel, "The Story of B". They are so ingrained with our way of life that when the truth about alternatives they respond with cynicism and mask their uncomfortable, closed responses with sarcastic humor. If these people would simply open up a little to at least discussing the modern issues facing our world instead of buying into the pitiful excuse of humans somehow being flawed as a race, then maybe we could see a age of progress and development. until then, we who find our worlds changed with this book will continue to talk, work, and help to make the world a better place for every creature.

Ishmael is the type of book that is either loved or hated by readers as its ideas are very controversial. The message in this book is a very intriguing one, but also difficult to accept. If the reader does not go into this novel with an open mind, it will be impossible to enjoy as it is known that skeptics who already know the premise of the book will not take Ishmael’s messages well. I enjoyed the book as I had no idea what it would be about. I knew it would be controversial as the review on the cover said, “From now on I will divide the books I have read into two categories---the ones I read before Ishmael and those read after.” I would definitely recommend Ishmael to readers that do not mind thinking while they read. Although the language is very easy to understand, it is not a straightforward read as you will often want to set it down and just think for a while. There are some who say this book changed their lives and still others who tossed it aside. No matter one’s set of opinions, this is a must-read because of the ideas it brings to the table.

Reviewer Noe More ALL animals follow the rules set up in this book EXCEPT humans. If humans we're following it, then India, countries in Africa, China and other places would not be destitute but still reproducing. Humans MUST stop reproducing to save our planet and it needs to start in the first world so the second and third world will see that we can make the same sacrifices. This book is awesome and needs to be read by every high school, college and adult age reader. Read, studied and put into practice.

About the author

Daniel Quinn grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and studied at St. Louis University, the University of Vienna, and Loyola University of Chicago. He worked in Chicago-area publishing for twenty years before beginning work on the book for which he is best known, Ishmael. In 1991, this book was chosen from among some 2,500 international entrants in the Turner Tomorrow competition to win the half-million dollar prize for a novel offering “creative and positive solutions to global problems.” It has subsequently sold more than a million copies in English, is available in some thirty languages, and has been used in high schools and colleges worldwide in courses as varied as philosophy, geography, ecology, archaeology, history, biology, zoology, anthropology, political science, economics, and sociology. Subsequent works include Providence, The Story of B, My Ishmael: A Sequel, Beyond Civilization, After Dachau, The Holy, At Woomeroo, The Invisibility of Success, and The Teachings. Daniel Quinn died in 2018.