About the Author
Daniel Quinn (1935-2018) grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where he graduated from Creighton Prep in 1953. He studied at St. Louis University, the University of Vienna, and Loyola University of Chicago receiving a bachelor's degree in English, cum laude, in 1957.
He instituted the Stateville Penitentiary Writers' Workshop (1969-71) and served on the Board of Listeners of the World Uranium Hearing, Salzburg, Austria, convened in 1992 to hear the testimony of victims of uranium mining, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear power disasters around the world. He has addressed students and faculty at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Texas, Trinity University, Portland State University, Salisbury State University, Elon College, Baylor University, Texas A&M, the University of Georgia, Roger Williams University, Kent State University, Rice University, the University of Oregon, St. Louis University, and other colleges, community colleges, and high schools. He has been a keynote speaker for conferences and meetings for groups such as The Minnesota Social Investment Forum, St. Martin's College World Population Forum, Systems Thinking in Action, Vision 2000, Iowa State University's Institute on World Affairs, the North American Association for Environmental Education, The Foundation for Contemporary Theology, and EnvironDesign3.
http://www.ishmael.org/origins/DQ/
A little bit about the book
Ishmael is a book that dissects many of the problems that the world appears to face and points the finger at homosapiens in the form of 'the takers'. It is a fantastically written book that is short but has a big message. This message revolves around the idea that humans haven't always consumed, destroyed and killed mother nature and her species like we currently do. In fact, we were once 'the settlers' - we lived off the land and respected the land, but somewhere along the road we fell off course and become takers, raping the land for all of its resources in our search for expansion and growth as a species.
It is cleverly written with the main protagonist who is unnamed throughout the book responding to an obscure newspaper article stating: "Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person". The narrator takes us to the personal application being held by the teacher who is a gorilla called Ishmael who is being a glass wall and a sign asking: "with man gone, will there be hope for Gorilla". This anarchic approach is a main theme for the book, as the narrator over time becomes angry at his society, at the blindness of himself and all of the other takers who are generally unaware of their eventual demise.
The book takes a number of different themes, with the teacher and his pupil discussing the origins of the world, the history of the takers, the language and culture at zoos, immutable laws that govern life and the nature of earth and human culture.
There is a powerful section in the book that talks about the taker being in free fall - having all the fun in the world that he/she believes that this fun will never end. This cannot happen, however, because in his/her fun the taker destroys the world around him, and gravity brings them to their eventual demise and the end of their species.
It creates a smack in the face of reality for the reader, and after reading it, there is a sense of awareness and curiosity at how we can reverse the situation we find ourselves in - and raises the question of whether or not this is even possible.
Even if one doesn't agree with the premise of the book, it is definitely a classic that is very relevant to the world we find ourselves in today.
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