Ishmael

A Novel (Ishmael Series, Book 1)

By: Daniel Quinn

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Morgan Freeman

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most beloved and best-selling novels of spiritual adventure ever published, Ishmael has earned a passionate following. This special 25th 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, available on audio:
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)

©1992 Daniel Quinn (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

“[Quinn entraps] us in the dialogue itself, in the sweet and terrible lucidity of Ishmael’s analysis of the human condition.... It was surely for this deep, clear persuasiveness of argument that Ishmael was given its huge prize.” (The Washington Post)

“It is as suspenseful, inventive, and socially urgent as any fiction or nonfiction book you are likely to read this or any other year.” (The Austin Chronicle)

I had no idea what to expect

The very best listen that I can recall. Every moment requires the listener to question their own life and how we treat each other, including other animals, and the planet.

amazing

this should be required reading for every political office lol. read only when you have a lot of time

Best book of all time

You will see why. Just read this book- you will not have a single regret.

Ishmael

Piercing through the mind and back out to the world where we get our cultural identity and experience. Consumerism is the prison and the thoughtful and exceedingly patient gorilla is the teacher. I will read again and highly recommend it. So rich with the truths of how we live life and how to save our planet from environmental catastrophe.
Read abs read again- I am starting the next book of the trilogy.

A Whole New World View

I’m sure millions of people have written similar reviews. I read this book because someone I know said it had changed his life. So, I had to find out why. Certainly, it will change ones worldview and cause one to reconsider what we think we know about ourselves and our place in the world. Definitely a must read.

I don’t usually do this

I rarely leave comments but this book is one of a kind. I have the physical and still went back to read this.

Absolute must read for every human

A book about what's wrong with the world and what we need to do to fix it. I have been looking for this info for a while and was delighted to find it.

A very important perspective on man's evolution

There is a great overall premise for the ideas in this book. It is certainly true that you should be exposed to the ideas in this book If you have any ideas about understanding evolutionary biology And the evolution of our culture and the memes that make it up.
This book is not a novel But is a story of our culture and thought processes of life itself on this planet. It has a very important perspective That would be good for all of us to be aware of.

This is a must!

What wonderful journey. The author truly bends your mind. I am a changed person after reading this work.

Mind blowing

Affirming and inspiring. How have I not read this sooner? Wow, highly recommend. Must read