Rating: 
Summary: I was a skeptic, but now.....
Review: My girlfriend recommended this book to me under the pretense that a friend of hers had said "This book will change your life."That was enough to keep me from reading it for a couple of months. Then one day, I picked it up and read it at work because.....quite frankly I had nothing else to read. Did it change my life? I don't know about that, but it certainly made me stop in a couple of spots and say "Whoa!" You can get the gist of this book from the reviews and amazon.com synopsis already here. For me, I would have to say the main two things this book did for me were the following: One, it reinforced the way I felt about religion, creationism, evolution, etc. Secondly, it made me look at a few things I honestly never thought of before, then gave those a new spin. Perhaps I am being confusing. One of the parts of this book that really knocked me over was the telling of a VERY well known biblical tale. The story was told in more or less the traditional way, with the traditional literal understanding. Then, the author flips it over, says "What about this?", and left my mind swimming with amazement. I did not feel dumb, just shocked that something so obvious and interesting had never occured to me before. I am sure this has been a confusing read, but do yourself a favor and pick up the book. Whether you believe in it or not, it's entertaining and it may just get you to look at a few things from a different perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Saving the World
Review: I used to turn to religion but now whenever I have a question on why things are the way they are I turn to Ishmael. This book not only made me relize that saving the world was possible but that you didn't have to depend on people being better than they really are to save it. What a concept!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ FOR ALL HUMANS
Review: WHY oh why was this not required reading in school. We need to learn to think outside the box, away form what society has programed into us. We should all read this book and question our truth.
Rating:
Summary: Man in Free Fall
Review: This "novel" is a must-read for anyone interested in seeing the world survive the 21st century. More than a novel, this book is presented as a teacher-student dialogue that presents facts as fiction (myths) and fiction as fact (dialogue with a gorilla through telepathy). After a few pages, the reader is comfortable with the basic concept but increasingly uncomfortable with life as we know it and increasingly aware of floating in a free fall toward disaster.
I heartily recommend this to anyone with a mind ready to be opened.
Rating: 
Summary: The most misguiding book in history!
Review: Wonder why people keep calling this book "life-changing"? I'm still wondering.
This book is based on principles of evolution and disillusioned theology. It is pure FICTION, not fact. It asks many questions that normal right-thinking people would think too trivial and nonsense to ask.
This is like Darwin's theories of evolution or some kind of mind altering teaching. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!
It makes the reader think about the beginning of mankind and the world, the present condition of mankind and the world, and the future of mankind and the world. It founds some small details on the beginning of civilization based on religious texts, such as the Bible, but reads as if the author is entirely familiar with them, which obviously he is not.
The book supports the reader forsaking and rejecting any previous thoughts and feelings about religion that the reader has, and just coming up with a plan to "save" the world from mankind's destruction.
Also, the book "teaches" that the way to end overpopulation is to let starvation and hunger kill off people. So we should just sit around and let innocent lives die for the sake of plants and animals? Give me a break!
The reason I think this book deserves 2 stars is because with all this fiction presented as facts, there are some good historic points about civilization, population control, and things people take for granted. It also makes a point that we don't have to destroy the natural world, such as habitats and animal communities.
Still, the book is misleading and just plain fake. The gorilla telepathically communicates, which isn't so bad but just makes for a better story, but the pupil is brainwashed into turning their whole life into playing a part in someone's absurd and riduculous plan. The book tries to brainwash the reader to do the same.
This book requires deep thinking. If you want to save your brain the trouble of a headache, DON'T BUY THE BOOOK!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Hmm
Review: If you have not read this book, you might be wondering why so many reviewers would characterize it as "life changing" and why the rest of them seem to be so ticked off. This book will ask you to reconsider everything you've ever been told. Even if you don't agree with everything Quinn says, it must cause you to think. There are very few books that I can say have changed me, and this is one of them. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor by reading it.
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Summary: PUPIL FOUND TEACHER; has an earnest desire to save the world
Review: i would just like to say that this is one of the most profound and important books i feel that i have ever had the privelege to read.
questions that have always loomed in my mind were suddenly answered, woven together, and handed back to me like a pile of folded laundry. several times i actually had to stop reading for the sole purpose of sitting with my mouth open for several moments. this book has guts, it has brains, and it has things to say that we've all been needing to hear for 10,000 years.
do us all a favor. read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I Didn't Know That Reading Could BeThis Painful
Review: Ishmael: Gorilla: Hypnotic: [junk]. As this book was required reading for my high school class, I had no choice but to sit and force myself to pay attention to its mindless babble. This book is not only the definition of "boredom", but is pointless and repetitive. While reading Ishmael, my brain was on the verge of exploding with frustration. Let me tell you, the worst agony that you would ever have to experience, is trying to pay attention to something that your mind just can't focus on... in other words: Ishmael. The entirety of the so-called lessons "taught" in this book, could have easily been summed up in about ten pages. Even three weeks after reading the book, my sanity has still not fully recovered, and for this reason, I beg you no to ever read this book, and experience the pointless senarios and made up vocabulary. This book forces one's self to endure tedious stories and senseless dialogue......Saving the world? Not likely! Yes, we all know what we're doing to destroy the world, but trust me; reading this book isn't even going to begin to stop it. If you're looking for a book to exercize your mind and make you think, well, this is definitely not the book for you. Please, save yourself the ten dollars and the trip to the book store, don't buy this AWFUL book!...
Rating: 
Summary: A Study of Captivity
Review: While some people found Ishmael boring, it is silly to approach this book with the sole aim of being entertained. If thats what you want, go to a circus. If you want a polemic, even frustrating read, then pick up Ishmael. Throughout the book, I found myself constantly at odds with the big gorilla, but to my surprise, the Socratic diologue got fresher and more in depth as it went on. My initial anger at some of Ishmael's more outrageous claims subsided, when I finally allowed myself to actually read the book, rather than argue it. That is one of the joys of reading, I think, to find a book thats good to read and also give you quite a bit to digest. My only complaint, is one I normally make against all diologues--that the exchange is always between a wise teacher and a yes man. Understanding is acheived despite communication and not because of it. Even still, this point is weak and should not be a deterrent to reading the book. Overall, Ishmael is challenging (in scope not language) and dares us to see a world beyond the order we have imposed upon it. If nothing else, Ishmael should at least make you want to turn off your computer and go outside.
Rating:
Summary: Painful
Review: Although this is arguably the worst book I have ever read, I must admit that the author deserves some credit for it. After all, he must have put a lot of effort into coming up with such unrealistic ideas, and it shows. I don't know how in the world the author managed to stay awake long enough to write this much redundant, pointless information, when the entire book could easily be summarized in one chapter. Unless for some reason you enjoy subjecting yourself to endless hours of unbelievable boredom, stay away from this book at all costs!
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