Books and Resources

These books and resources will help you understand Quinn's ideas and related topics. Click on the links to view the books and products on Amazon.com. Those which can be purchased at alternative booksellers are noted. For more resources, see Links.

It should be noted that I am poorly qualified to choose the best and most relevant books in several of these categories. One way to get a vague feel for their content and quality is to read the reviews and ratings on Amazon.com.

The Message

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, is Quinn's first book and a fine summary of his ideas. Many people consider it, and his other books, life-changing and mind-changing.
hardcover
paperback
Audio Download (Audible.com)
Also, go to the website, the Ishmael Community.

The Story of B (paperback), by Daniel Quinn, repeats and fills out some of the ideas in Ishmael, especially on population and on animism, the religion of tribal peoples.

My Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, goes into more depth about some ideas, like school and the New Tribal Revolution.
hardcover
paperback

Providence (paperback), by Daniel Quinn, is Quinn's autobiography. In it, he attempts to show how his ideas and his spirituality were formed.

Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure, by Daniel Quinn, is about New Tribalism and other ways of going "beyond".
hardcover
paperback
Also check out the website, Beyond Civilization.

After Dachau (hardcover), by Daniel Quinn, is a new novel incorporating an elaborate metaphor for the ideas expressed in Quinn's other books. A summary page and the first eight chapters (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) are printed on the Ishmael Community. (A website is probably in production.)

Against His-story, Against Leviathan!, by Fredy Perlman, is essentially a quasi-mythical analysis of the history of civilization. It anticipates Ishmael by years, but says little that any one of Quinn's books don't say better, more clearly, and more accurately; it's more inspirational than informational. It's also available directly from the publisher, Black and Red, and from other independent booksellers. An excerpt from the beginning and another excerpt from the middle are also printed in multiple places online.

Against Civilization is a collection of essays compiled by John Zerzan, all containing misgivings about or outright attacks upon various forms of civilization. Some are quite relevant to Quinn's ideas, some are not. This book is also readily available from the publisher, Uncivilized Books, and other independent booksellers, and also in an online version on the Wildcat magazine site, in seven parts (Introduction, Section One - Before Civilization, Section Two - The Coming of Civilization, Section Three - The Nature of Civilization, Section Four - The Pathology of Civilization, Section Five - The Resistance to Civilization, Conclusion).

Future Primitive & Other Essays, by John Zerzan, is a book that sounds closely related to Quinn's ideas.

Elements of Refusal, by John Zerzan, also appears related.

Questioning Technology: A Critical Anthology, by John Zerzan and Alice Carnes, is currently unavailable at Amazon.com. Another book titled Questioning Technology: Tool, Toy or Tyrant is also unavailable.

The Reproduction of Daily Life, by Fredy Perlman
This book can also be purchased from Black and Red, the publisher, and other booksellers.

Continuing Appeal of Nationalism, by Fredy Perlman
hardcover
paperback
This book can also be purchased from Black and Red, the publisher, and other booksellers.

The Strait : Book of Obenabi, His Songs, by Fredy Perlman
This book can also be purchased from Black and Red, the publisher, and other booksellers.

The Machine Against the Garden, by Fredy Perlman

Having Little, Being Much : A Chronicle of Fredy Perlman's Fifty Years, by Lorraine Perlman
This book can also be purchased from Black and Red, the publisher, and other booksellers.

On Human Societies

The Continuum Concept, by Jean Liedloff, applies observations about Yequana Indian childraising methods to civilized life. It's very thought-provoking and compelling, though not very scientific, and has been called the companion book to Ishmael.
Also, check out the website The Liedloff Continuum Network, which explains a great deal of Liedloff's ideas.

Millenium: Tribal Wisdom & the Modern World, by David Maybury-Lewis, is a fine, much-overlooked book on a man's experiences living with a tribe.

The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond, is one of the books I would recommend most urgently to anyone who liked Ishmael. It discusses in great depth what it means to be human.

Yanomamo : The Last Days of Eden, by Napoleon A. Chagnon, is an interesting book on his time spent in the horticulturalist and increasingly Westernized Yanomamo society.

Spirit of the Rainforest : A Yanomamo Shaman's Story, by Mark Andrew Ritchie

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, is a brief history of the past 13,000 years, exploring why white Europeans conquered the world, rather than another race or culture.
paperback
hardcover
audiocasette (abridged)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee : An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Alexander Brown
paperback
hardcover

Our Babies, Ourselves : How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent, by Meredith F. Small

Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child, by Katie Allison Granju, Betsy Kennedy (Contributor), and William M.D. Sears

The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers (Contributor), and Betty Sue Flowers (Editor)

The Clustered World : How We Live, What We Buy, and What It All Means About Who We Are, by Michael J. Weiss

The Interpretation of Cultures (Basic Books Classics), by Clifford Geertz

Ecology

State of the World 2000 (State of the World Series) by Lester R. Brown, Christopher Flavin (Contributor), Hilary French (Contributor) is about, surprisingly, the state of the world. Also, visit the World Watch website.

Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, with an introduction by Al Gore, was partly responsible for the start of the environmental movement (though its accuracy and relevance may be in question today).

Endangered Species - Must They Disappear? (The Information Series on Current Topics) by Cornelia B. Blair (Editor)

Business and Ecology

The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken, is an attempt to find a way to make corporations more sustainable in the long term.

Natural Capitalism : Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory B. Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, seems to be an extension of The Ecology of Commerce, and has been praised by Quinn.

Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model, by Ray Anderson, is about his experience in trying to make his business, Interface, Inc., more sustainable. He was inspired by The Ecology of Commerce and, to a lesser extent, by Ishmael.

50 Simple Things Your Business Can Do to Save the Earth, by Earthworks Group

Fifty Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth, by Earthworks Group, et al., illustrated by Michele Montez

Recycler's Handbook, by Earthworks Group

Agenda 21 : The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet, by Daniel Sitarz (Editor), Paul Simon (Contributor)

Earth Summit Ethics : Toward a Reconstructive Postmodern Philosophy of Environmental Education (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought) by J. Baird Callicott (Editor), Fernando J. R. Da Rocha (Editor), Fernando J. Da Rocha (Editor)

Environmental Ethics and Policy Book: Philosophy, Ecology, Economics, by Donald Van Deveer, Christine Pierce, Donald VanDeVeer

Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run : A Call to Those Who Would Save the Earth, by David Ross Brower, Steve Chapple

The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century (Urban and Industrial Environments), by William A. Shutkin, David Ross Brower

Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century, by George Sessions (Editor)

Ways of Thinking

The Fifth Discipline : The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter M. Senge; Alan D. Thornhill and other have called this book a good introduction to systems thinking (which Ishmael practices).

Spirituality and the Human Animal

A Language Older Than Words, by Derrick Jensen, has been praised as eye-opening.

The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World, by David Abram: the title speaks for itself.

Related Art, Movies, and Music

These are movies and albums many people feel to be relevant to the message of Ishmael.

The movie Instinct was inspired by Ishmael.
VHS
DVD

Yield is an Ishmael-inspired album by Pearl Jam.
CD
audiocassette
vinyl record

Binaural is Pearl Jam's first album since Yield.
CD
audiocassette
vinyl record

Black Robe, a movie directed by Bruce Beresford, was recommended by Quinn as an antidote to the notion that Leavers (indigenous peoples) are all kind, saintlike noble savages.
VHS
DVD
VHS widescreen

Fight Club is a popular and controversial movie many people feel is relevant to Quinn's message.
VHS
DVD

Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, is the book the movie was based on.
paperback
audiocassette (abridged), narrated by J. Todd Adams

Fight Club: Original Motion Picture Score by the Dust Brothers

Fight Club (Original Soundtrack) (extra tracks) (IMPORT)

The Matrix is a movie many people think parallels the story in Ishmael. Substitute "Mother Culture" for "the Matrix" and think about what it means to control what everyone in the culture thinks. After you've taken that pill, you can never go back.
VHS
DVD
VHS widescreen

Cat's Place contains links to relevant books in association with Amazon.com. If you follow these specific links and make purchases, a percentage of the profits goes to Cat's Place; if you follow a general link or use the search box, it's a much smaller percentage. Thanks for supporting the site. See also my list of other booksellers.