Rating: 
Summary: Ishmael retold to answer questions
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Ishmael and appreciate Daniel Quinn's message. I am sure that I cannot imagine the amount of mail and questions that Quinn receives and I suspect that My Ishmael and The Story of B were written to address some of those questions and perhaps the critics of Ishmael.
It is my feeling that My Ishmael was written for readers of Ishmael that lacked the imagination and ability to think for themselves, who asked about talking gorillas, or what I can do to save the world. Similarly, The Story of B was written for those that needed Ishmael to be put in a religious context. The difference for me was that in this book, the reader is the narrator, led by the hand of Quinn who takes the form of B. And I suspect that many of the questions that Father Jared Osborne asks or is asked are questions that have been asked of Quinn. Therefore the book was written as much by readers of Ishmael as by Quinn.
Another complaint is the conclusion of the novel. In the Taker culture, too many of us are much too accustomed to not having to think for ourselves, like the narrator-priest of this book. He acknowledges that he lost his faith as a subscriber to the teachings of B. However, religious belief and the teachings of Ishmael do not have to be mutually exclusive.
The Story of B is a cleverly written book with a few plot twists and does take a different (a religious) angle to Ishmael. I am sure many readers will appreciate this context, whether for their own good or simply for curiosity of how Quinn approaches it. However, I suspect that others will find this book unnecessary- readers of Ishmael who might be more comfortable with their faith or lack of it and are able to put the teachings of Ishmael into a religious context.
Rating: 
Summary: Untrue, poorly written, and manipulative.
Review: The most important thing to realize is that this book is not intended to be factual. It's fiction, set in a world much like our own, but not ours. Therefore, it does not contain, as a documentary book would, references, a bibliography, or supplimentary evidence. Neither does the Laurentian order exist, deconstructionists are not known as conservatives, "bau" simply means "building" in German, not "burrow" (which is "baue"), and a Protestant preacher in Germany lecturing on Green politics is unlikely to be thought unusual at all, much less identified as the Antichrist.
His assertion that overfed rats will reproduce more quickly than those on a subsistance diet is questionable; there is no evidence that this experiment was ever performed, much less that rodents have an instinct to control their numbers according to food supply. It is certainly not true of humans, outside of the difference between actual starvation and subsistance; the lowest rates of fertility occur in Italy (1.2 children born/woman) and elsewhere in Europe; the highest in the poorer nations of sub-Saharan Africa (6.88 born/woman in Uganda) and in some parts of the Middle East ( 5 children born/woman in Afghanistan).
While his rants about "totalitarian agriculture", which produces food for humans, but nothing else, seem convincing, it's in fact the case that agriculture, in general, has continually broadened its scope in both animal husbandry (animals of endangered species are continually being nurtured by zoos and even "farmed") and plant life (you name it, someone's grown one, or is working on it). While hunter/gatherers make totems and taboos about what they eat, or what will eat them if they're not careful, we're concerned with such recherche life-forms as plankton and hybrid tea roses, neither of which can be considered as "food".
All of this would be tolerable if it weren't for Quinn's inability to write good fiction. Jared Osgood is a bumbling fool as an investigator, and can't marshall much of a counterargument against Atterley's assertions -- most of the time, he admits, he's simply struck dumb by his brilliance. His straw-man arguments are forgettable, as are those of the other characters marshalled to provide some kind of background, and his conversion occurs with no more internal dialog than "It can not be true! But it must be true! It IS true! How stupid I must be!", and thereafter becomes the straight man for Atterley's version of Socratic dialog, which only requires that the pupil reply "Yes.", "How true.", and "You're wise, I'm wrong." When all else fails, he has Atterley assassinated -- of course assassinations only happen to GOOD people, right?
What he's good at is being alternately condescending and flattering to the reader that what they're reading is something fresh, new, shocking, and revolutionary, instead of stale environmentalist, Rousseauesque, post-structuralist, and German Romantic themes buttressed by namedropping, sophistry, and utter falsehoods, and given a little spice by by some truly horrific proposals for human progress (cutting off all American foreign aid is just the beginning). Yes, I'd like to have him silenced. But I'd rather have him either tell the truth or just shut up.
Rating: 
Summary: Radical or too obvious?
Review: This is the second Quinn book I've completed, I'm on my third now. His ideas and insightful view of the unfortunate evolution of our species need to be read by a wide audience. To many, they may seem ludicrous or fanciful and Ludditian. But, I think they are so brutally correct that they can't be ignored if we really want a healthy future for our children and their children. What was it that Einstein said about the truth? Something about how those with mediocre minds will try to shoot it down. I don't want to say that Quinn has all the answers, but he certainly has the compass heading.
Rating:
Summary: Realigning perceptions in just 200+ pages
Review: If you have spent your whole life with an idea that something wasn't as it should be. If you find yourself lost and without any aspirations to be a "valuable member of society". If you want to have your mind blown and your life changed. Then buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Who are you? How did you get here?
Review: For fans of Ishmael, it goes without saying that you would enjoy this book. For those that have not been fortunate enough to read Ishmael, I might suggest reading this first. Quinn does an excellent job of bringing the reader along for an incredible journey. The teachings that Jared receives throughout the story are written in such a way that the reader feels like the student. Jared asks most of the questions that I had (At times maybe too many, but this still works when you realize every reader is diferent)and holds many of the grudges and pre-concieved nothions about the 'ways' of humans that I had.
What you get out of this book is up to you, and I'm still not exactly sure what I got from it. But either way, you'll be encourged through reading this novel to think for yourself, draw your own conclusions and question what is accepted as 'the norm'.
Rating:
Summary: IMPORTANT!
Review: Daniel Quinn's works present a stunning, plain-language tutorial on What's Wrong With The World. If you care about the future of humanity, you must read these books!
Rating:
Summary: Quinn's best book.
Review: This is it. This is the one. If you read Ishmael and liked it, but weren't quite revolutionized, this is it. This book is the SOUL of Quinn's vision. I can't recommend it enough. When I become a more eloquent advocate, I will, I promise, put the letter "B" right in the middle of my forehead!
Rating:
Summary: Visionary
Review: Should be mandatory reading in every American high school. As a novel it's a bit ridiculous, but as a sociological/philosophical treastise it's insightful and extremely powerful. Quinn's take on the stupidity and selfishness of faith-based religion is especially refreshing to read.
Rating:
Summary: Read it, if you want to survive...
Review: This is the second book in the trilogy of Daniel Quinn concerning our future on this planet...The things he's telling us through his characters are so new and yet so ancient and wise. If you ever wondered "how things became like this?" or "what is wrong with people?" or "do I have to get up every morning and work 8-12 hours?" this book will provide you with answers and you won't have to join some religion or cult or anything like that... This book (as well as two others in the trilogy) will make you see through all the lies of our civilization, including east and west religions as well as our political and economic leaders... The best yet, it doesn't teach you "how to be satisfied with less of what you have" or "how to achieve spiritual peace"! It's the best blueprint for saving the world WITH people in it so far... All three books are novels, so you will not feel like being preached all the time. You may say some twists or ending are predictable, but that doesn't matter. If you're falling out of a plane to your doom and someone gives you a parachute, you won't be asking what colour is it... Read it, if you want to survive! ....
Rating:
Summary: The 20th Century Bible
Review: This book jolted me into reality and I have not returned since. If you have ever felt, burbling in the back of your brain, that something was wrong in the world, this book will shed an entirely new light on the way you view humanity. Share this book with others. I defy you to read The Story of B and come out of it with the same perception of life and humanity as before.
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