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Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit | 
| Author: Daniel Quinn
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy Used: $3.99
You Save: $14.01 (78%)
New (76) Used (185) Collectible (9) from $3.99
Rating:  871 reviews
Sales Rank: 1332
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0553375407
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553375404
ASIN: 0553375407
Publication Date: July 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: The cover has some multiple creased corners and has some dents in it. The pages are turning brown. The book is bowed.
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Product Description
The narrator of this extraordinary tale is a manin search for truth. He answers an ad in a localnewspaper from a teacher looking for seriouspupils, only to find himself alone in an abandonedoffice with a full-grown gorilla who is nibblingdelicately on a slender branch. "You are theteacher?" he asks incredulously. "I amthe teacher," the gorilla replies. Ishmael isa creature of immense wisdom and he has a storyto tell, one that no other human being has everheard. It is a story that extends backward andforward over the lifespan of the earth from the birthof time to a future there is still time save.Like all great teachers, Ishmael refuses to make thelesson easy; he demands the final illumination tocome from within ourselves. Is it man's destinyto rule the world? Or is it a higher destinypossible for him-- one more wonderful than he has everimagined?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 866 more reviews...
 Changed my Life November 29, 2008
Regal Beagle
This book changed how I percieve the world and the people, animals, and plants within it. It will change everything; how you view religion, human nature, anthropolgy, history, ecology, and the modern world. Be prepared for a journey that will change the way you look at life. This book really is a journey, as it takes you, in an amazingly knowing way, through the thought process experienced by the narrator. You will find Ishmael answering your questions and feeding your hunger for more of his wisdom. The only problem is, some people may shun or doubt it, but only because it rings so true, and is so unavoidable. Yet it is inevitable that some will find a way to avoid it. Ask yourself "would I answer the ad, the one that prompted the narrator to see Ishmael, the one that read 'TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have an earnest desire to save the world.'? if the answer is yes, this book is a must-read. But even if you are not so ambitious, this book can motivate you to do great things. In other words; read it. Note; at times it was slow reading due to the amount of thought and analyzing it inspired, and is certainly not a quick or light read.
Fascinating Journey November 24, 2008
Nicholas Chill (San Diego, CA)
This fascinating book will keep you glued to the pages, forever wondering 'what's next?'.
Told in the format of a conversation between a spiritual teacher and an intrigued student. The teacher is a gorilla named Ishmael, allowing for a view of human society from an outside, non-biased perspective.
Ishmael is hinting at a problem with human society that began back with the hunter-gatherer peoples, continues on to this day, and could possibly mean the impending destruction of our way of life. He leaves it up to the student to figure out the problem for himself, providing clues and hints along the way.
This work is an eye opening window into common pervertions of the truth that we take for fact. The fact that this book exists is proof that an awakening is at hand. It leads you to wonder; will our society ever learn, and if so, will it be too late?
A great follow on to this book is "The Fall" by Steve Taylor.
Enjoy
 The Story of a Teacher/For Quinn is Just a Preacher October 21, 2008
Helga Mohammed el-Salami (Beverly Hills, CA)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
The story of a teacher seeking a student, but not just any student! You! In page after page, the author, speaking through his "teacher" in the form of an 800 lb gorilla, demonstrates his complete ignorance of even the most basic principles of population and economics. Quinn almost urges a return to the hunting and gathering lifestyle never minding the fact that this prescription would shave the earth's population thinner than the hair on a baboon's bottocks. If I had read this book when I was young, I may have been taken in by Quinn's primitive arguments. But in my old age, I recognize that his logic belongs to an age of ignorance something like 8 million years ago, when we branched off from the gorillas. Interesting given his choice of avatars.
Life Changing Novel October 12, 2008
DesertTori (Los Angeles, CA USA)
I teach English at an inner-city high school and I wrote a grant to be able to teach this book to my students. It was my greatest success thus far and I attribute it all to the incredible ideas that Quinn develops throughout this novel. He challenges us to reconsider our concepts of humanity (which have led us to chaos) in order to find new ideas with more meaning. Needless to say, my students were engaged. One student said the novel saved him from suicide. Pretty powerful stuff.
Thank you Ishmael September 25, 2008
A. Cosenzo (Wilmington, DE United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book changed my life.
Like a fish swimming in the ocean who takes water for granted, we can't help but take our own culture for granted. It has become invisible to us, because we live in it. This book will make it so you can see it again. Once you start to see it, you won't be able to make it become invisible again.
If you've ever wondered how things got this bad, you should read this book. Prepare for a paradigm shift.
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