When Bantam Books first published "Ishmael," a cult was born. Winner of
the Turner Tomorrow Award -- a prize for fiction that offered solutions
to global problems -- it was an utterly unique story that earned raves
from readers and critics alike. By the time the mass market paperback
edition of this novel was published last year, word was spreading like
wildfire. Now this irresistible novel of a spiritual adventure is
available in trade paperback for the first time ever. The narrator of
this extraordinary tale is a man in search of truth. He answers an ad in
a local newspaper from a teacher looking for serious pupils only to find
himself alone in an abandonded office with a full-grown gorilla who is
nibbling delicately on a slender branch. "you are the teacher?" he asks,
incredulously. "I am the teacher, " the gorilla replies. Ishmael is a
creature of immense wisdom and he has a story to tell.... As readers
everywhere seek out books that offer answers to their burning questions
about spirituality, the popularity of this remarkable novel continues to
grow at an astounding pace.
"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."
"Wonderfully eamest and engaging. Think of Robert Pirsig in "Zen And The
Art Of Motorcycle" Maintenance or B.F. Skinner in "Walden Two."" -- "Los
Angeles Times Book Review."
Daniel Quinn lives in Austin, Texas.
