AUDIOBOOK
About
MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES IN PRINT
Winner of the 1992 Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, Ishmael is a unique and captivating novel that has earned a large and passionate following among readers and critics worldwide. One of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published, 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. For this special fifth anniversary edition, the author has written a frank and informative introduction in which he discusses the worldwide Ishmael phenomenon. Timed to coincide with the eagerly anticipated publication of My Ishmael and the release of the movie Ishmael, this special edition is sure to attract new readers and reinforce Daniel Quinn's reputation as one of the most compelling and visionary writers of our age.
The first time I read the ad, I choked and cursed and spat and threw the paper to the floor. Since even this didn't seem to be quite enough, I snatched it up, marched into the kitchen, and shoved it into the trash. While I was there, I made myself a little breakfast and gave myself some time to cool down. I ate and thought about something else entirely. That's right. Then I dug the paper out of the trash and turned back to the Personals section, just to see if the damn thing was still there and just the way I remembered it. It was.
TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.
An earnest desire to save the world! Oh, I liked that. That was rich indeed. An earnest desire to save the world—yes, that was splendid. By noon, two hundred mooncalfs, softheads, boobies, ninnyhammers, noodleheads, gawkies, and assorted oafs and thickwits would doubtless be lined up at the address given, ready to turn over all their worldlies for the rare privilege of sitting at the feet of some guru pregnant with the news that all will be well if everyone will just turn around and give his neighbor a big hug.
You will wonder: Why is this man so indignant? So bitter? It's a fair question. In fact, it's a question I was asking myself.
The answer goes back to a time, a couple decades ago, when I'd had the silly notion that the thing I most wanted to do in the world was... to find a teacher. That's right. I imagined I wanted a teacher—needed a teacher. To show me how one goes about doing something that might be called... saving the world.
Stupid, no? Childish. Naïve. Simple. Callow. Or just fundamentally dumb. In one so manifestly normal in other respects, it needs explaining.
It came about in this way.
During the children's revolt of the sixties and seventies, I was just old enough to understand what these kids had in mind—they meant to turn the world upside down—and just young enough to believe they might actually succeed. It's true. Every morning when I opened my eyes, I expected to see that the new era had begun, that the sky was a brighter blue and the grass a brighter green. I expected to hear laughter in the air an
Winner of the 1992 Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, Ishmael is a unique and captivating novel that has earned a large and passionate following among readers and critics worldwide. One of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published, 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. For this special fifth anniversary edition, the author has written a frank and informative introduction in which he discusses the worldwide Ishmael phenomenon. Timed to coincide with the eagerly anticipated publication of My Ishmael and the release of the movie Ishmael, this special edition is sure to attract new readers and reinforce Daniel Quinn's reputation as one of the most compelling and visionary writers of our age.
The first time I read the ad, I choked and cursed and spat and threw the paper to the floor. Since even this didn't seem to be quite enough, I snatched it up, marched into the kitchen, and shoved it into the trash. While I was there, I made myself a little breakfast and gave myself some time to cool down. I ate and thought about something else entirely. That's right. Then I dug the paper out of the trash and turned back to the Personals section, just to see if the damn thing was still there and just the way I remembered it. It was.
TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.
An earnest desire to save the world! Oh, I liked that. That was rich indeed. An earnest desire to save the world—yes, that was splendid. By noon, two hundred mooncalfs, softheads, boobies, ninnyhammers, noodleheads, gawkies, and assorted oafs and thickwits would doubtless be lined up at the address given, ready to turn over all their worldlies for the rare privilege of sitting at the feet of some guru pregnant with the news that all will be well if everyone will just turn around and give his neighbor a big hug.
You will wonder: Why is this man so indignant? So bitter? It's a fair question. In fact, it's a question I was asking myself.
The answer goes back to a time, a couple decades ago, when I'd had the silly notion that the thing I most wanted to do in the world was... to find a teacher. That's right. I imagined I wanted a teacher—needed a teacher. To show me how one goes about doing something that might be called... saving the world.
Stupid, no? Childish. Naïve. Simple. Callow. Or just fundamentally dumb. In one so manifestly normal in other respects, it needs explaining.
It came about in this way.
During the children's revolt of the sixties and seventies, I was just old enough to understand what these kids had in mind—they meant to turn the world upside down—and just young enough to believe they might actually succeed. It's true. Every morning when I opened my eyes, I expected to see that the new era had begun, that the sky was a brighter blue and the grass a brighter green. I expected to hear laughter in the air an
Related Subjects
Extended Details
- SeriesIshmael #1