If you have been wondering what to do with the rest of
your life, I can think of no better starting point than
"Beyond Civilization". Every now and then
someone presents a message for people so powerful that
they look around at each other and say. "I knew
that". And such are the writings of Daniel Quinn.
Daniel
Quinn is best known for his 1992 novel
"Ishmael", which is available in 20
languages, and is studied in classrooms all over North
America. From mid-school to graduate school, in
courses as varied as philosophy, history, biology,
anthropology, political science, economics, and
sociology, students read and discuss the content of
his novel "Ishmael".
Quinn's earlier works
have been somewhat misunderstood, and I must admit that I
too fell in this category, but here, in "Beyond
Civilization", Quinn, in totally clarity, explains
the point of his message. And what a message it is.
"Beyond
Civilization" reads in about 2 hours for the
moderately fast reader, but don't be fooled. There is
depth here that is clearly and precisely told in a
short story manner.
I am
not going to begin to give away the theme of this
book. You can have the benefit of reading and
discovering it for yourself. Read it and you'll say.
"I knew that". And that's the reward of the
true teacher.
The
book's original title was "The Manual of
Change". In this book, Quinn compares two
mindsets -- old minds that think: "How do we stop
these bad things from happening?" and the new
minds that think: "How do we make things the way
we want them to be?"
Enough
said. Read the book. It's definitely an enlightening
guide for changing your future.
DANIEL
QUINN is also the award-winning author of
"Ishmael", "My
Ishmael: The Sequel", "The Story of
B", and "Providence: The
Story of a Fifty-year Vision Quest".
The address
of his Web site is 