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If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways by Daniel Quinn
The award-winning author of Ishmael shares his advice on how to challenge your own thought processes so you can see the world in new, creative, revolutionary waysIn Ishmael , Daniel Quinn offered new ways of seeing and understanding human history, and our collective future. His message was transformative for millions of people, and Ishmael continues to attract tens of thousands of new readers each year. Subsequent works, such as The Story of B and My Ishmael , expanded upon his insights and teachings, but only now does he finally tackle the one question he has been asked hundreds of times but has never taken “How do you do what you do?” In If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways Quinn elucidates for readers the methods behind his own thought processes, challenging and ultimately empowering them to view the world for themselves in creative, perhaps even revolutionary ways. If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways also includes Quinn's never-before-published essays “The New Renaissance” and “Our Religions.” There is a scientific consensus that global warming is approaching a tipping point beyond no return faster than had previously been predicted. Quinn has long portrayed humans as “a species of beings, which, while supposedly rational, are destroying the very planet they live on.” So what are we to do? There has never been a plan for the future—and there never will be. But something extraordinary will happen in the next two or three decades; the people of our culture will learn to live sustainably—or not. Either way, it will be extraordinary. The sooner we understand this reality, the greater the chances that human society will transform itself so that the human race might have a future.
Paperback
First published January 2, 2007
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About the author
Daniel Quinn
52 books1,879 followersI had and did the usual things -- childhood, schools, universities (St. Louis, Vienna, Loyola of Chicago), then embarked on a career in publishing in Chicago. Within a few years I was the head of the Biography & Fine Arts Department of the American Peoples Encyclopedia; when that was subsumed by a larger outfit and moved to New York, I stayed behind and moved into educational publishing, beginning at Science Research Associates (a division of IBM) and ending as Editorial Director of The Society for Vision Education (a division of the Singer Corporation).
In 1977 I walked away from SVE and this very successful career when it became clear that I was not going to able to do there what I really wanted to do...which was not entirely clear. A few months later I set my feet on a path that would change my life completely. It was a path made up of books -- or rather versions of a book that, after twelve years, would turn out to be ISHMAEL.
The first version, written in 1977-78, called MAN AND ALIEN, didn't turn out to be quite what I wanted, so wrote a second, called THE GENESIS TRANSCRIPT. Like the first version, this didn't satisfy me, so I wrote a third with the same title. THE BOOK OF NAHASH, abandoned unfinished, was the fourth version.
When I started writing version five, THE BOOK OF THE DAMNED in 1981, I was sure I'd found the book I was born to write. The versions that came before had been like rainy days with moments of sunshine. THIS was a thunderstorm, and the lines crossed my pages like flashes of lightning. When, after a few thousand words I came to a clear climax, I said, "This MUST be seen," so I put Part One into print. Parts Two and Three followed, and I began searching for the switch that would turn on Part Four... but it just wasn't there. What I'd done was terrific -- and complete in its own way -- but at last I faced the fact that the whole thing just couldn't be done in lightning strikes.
And so, on to versions six and seven (both called ANOTHER STORY TO BE IN). I knew I was close, and version eight was it -- the first and only version to be a novel and the first and only version inhabited by a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael.
ISHMAEL was a life-changing book. It began by winning the Turner Tomorrow Award, the largest prize ever given to a single literary work. It would come to be read in some 25 languages and used in classrooms from mid-school to graduate school in courses as varied as history philosophy, geography, archaeology, religion, biology, zoology, ecology, anthropology, political science, economics, and sociology.
But in 1992, when ISHMAEL was published, I had no idea what I might do next. My readers decided this for me. In letters that arrived by the bushel they demanded to know where this strange book came from, what "made" me write it. To answer these questions I wrote PROVIDENCE: THE STORY OF A FIFTY-YEAR VISION QUEST (1995).
But there were even more urgently important questions to be answered, particularly this one: "With ISHMAEL you've undermined the religious beliefs of a lifetime. What am I supposed to replace them with?" I replied to this with THE STORY OF B (1996).
The questions (and books) kept coming: Why did Ishmael have to die? This gave rise to MY ISHMAEL: A SEQUEL (1997), in which it's revealed that Ishmael was not only far from being dead but far from being finished with his work as a teacher. The question "Where do we go from here?" was the inspiration for BEYOND CIVILIZATION: HUMANITY'S NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE (1999), a very different kind of book.
With these questions answered (and 500 more on my website), I felt I was fundamentally finished with what might be called my teachings and ready to move on.
I had always taken as my guiding principle these words from André Gide: "What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it, written as well as you, do not write it.
In 1977 I walked away from SVE and this very successful career when it became clear that I was not going to able to do there what I really wanted to do...which was not entirely clear. A few months later I set my feet on a path that would change my life completely. It was a path made up of books -- or rather versions of a book that, after twelve years, would turn out to be ISHMAEL.
The first version, written in 1977-78, called MAN AND ALIEN, didn't turn out to be quite what I wanted, so wrote a second, called THE GENESIS TRANSCRIPT. Like the first version, this didn't satisfy me, so I wrote a third with the same title. THE BOOK OF NAHASH, abandoned unfinished, was the fourth version.
When I started writing version five, THE BOOK OF THE DAMNED in 1981, I was sure I'd found the book I was born to write. The versions that came before had been like rainy days with moments of sunshine. THIS was a thunderstorm, and the lines crossed my pages like flashes of lightning. When, after a few thousand words I came to a clear climax, I said, "This MUST be seen," so I put Part One into print. Parts Two and Three followed, and I began searching for the switch that would turn on Part Four... but it just wasn't there. What I'd done was terrific -- and complete in its own way -- but at last I faced the fact that the whole thing just couldn't be done in lightning strikes.
And so, on to versions six and seven (both called ANOTHER STORY TO BE IN). I knew I was close, and version eight was it -- the first and only version to be a novel and the first and only version inhabited by a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael.
ISHMAEL was a life-changing book. It began by winning the Turner Tomorrow Award, the largest prize ever given to a single literary work. It would come to be read in some 25 languages and used in classrooms from mid-school to graduate school in courses as varied as history philosophy, geography, archaeology, religion, biology, zoology, ecology, anthropology, political science, economics, and sociology.
But in 1992, when ISHMAEL was published, I had no idea what I might do next. My readers decided this for me. In letters that arrived by the bushel they demanded to know where this strange book came from, what "made" me write it. To answer these questions I wrote PROVIDENCE: THE STORY OF A FIFTY-YEAR VISION QUEST (1995).
But there were even more urgently important questions to be answered, particularly this one: "With ISHMAEL you've undermined the religious beliefs of a lifetime. What am I supposed to replace them with?" I replied to this with THE STORY OF B (1996).
The questions (and books) kept coming: Why did Ishmael have to die? This gave rise to MY ISHMAEL: A SEQUEL (1997), in which it's revealed that Ishmael was not only far from being dead but far from being finished with his work as a teacher. The question "Where do we go from here?" was the inspiration for BEYOND CIVILIZATION: HUMANITY'S NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE (1999), a very different kind of book.
With these questions answered (and 500 more on my website), I felt I was fundamentally finished with what might be called my teachings and ready to move on.
I had always taken as my guiding principle these words from André Gide: "What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it, written as well as you, do not write it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 4, 2021
This is a five-star book given the content and the amount of tankespjärn for sure.
However, the condescending tone of it (the dialogue tweet Daniel and Elaine) removes one star.
It DEFINITELY pick up a copy!!
However, the condescending tone of it (the dialogue tweet Daniel and Elaine) removes one star.
It DEFINITELY pick up a copy!!
September 17, 2024
A little insight to the mind of Daniel Quinn, one of my favorites ❤️
July 16, 2024
This is the author's attempt to help us think like him, in a way; to understand his thinking, why he is able to question the cultural assumptions and brainwashings that we believe so easily. He describes it as being a Martian anthropologist; to be able to stand back and look at the way we do things or believe things and try to understand it and question it. I always love anything that makes me think differently in any way, and this book was a perfect example. The best example was an idea in a an article that said something like, don't let the liberals worry you, even if we reach 6 billion world population, we can fit them all into Texas with each getting an eighth of an acre. Whew, that's great, right? Well, no, it is nonsense because where are they getting their food and supplies from? You can't live off an acre, you can live on one as long as the rest of the world is feeding you. But with everyone living in Texas, I guess the commute to the farms in new mexico would be a little long. Quinn's other books were so inspiring and thought provoking and this was a little glimpse into they way his mind works... so we can all try to be Martian anthropologists every once in a while and remember to think for ourselves...
October 28, 2008
You can think of If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways as the fifth book in Quinn's Ishmael series (the other four being Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael and Beyond Civilization); it deals with a lot of the same ideas he introduced in Ishmael. This is not a work of fiction, like the three Ishmael books, or a descriptive nonfiction work like Beyond Civilization, though; it's a transcription of a dialogue that actually took place between Quinn and a reader. And, if it's about anything, it's about how to think critically rather than about Quinn's ideas directly. He's trying to get "Elaine," the confused reader, to adopt the perspective of a "Martian anthropologist," which is how he looks at things, and how he writes his books. And he succeeds, which is what gives the book something of a dramatic arc. It's striking to see how Elaine's dialog changes over the course of the book; she gains so much in insight and critical-thinking skills that you'd think she was another person. Indeed, if she were a fictional character I might express skepticism that a real person's thought and speech patterns could change so much in four days, but she's real.
October 23, 2017
Another tough read, started out very interesting then got bogged down in the question answer mode that got tiring. His other books - "Ismael" and "The Story of B" are excellent books , this not so much.
April 26, 2009
This is the latest book from my favorite author. As with all his other books, I walked away with my head spinning. And yet, I didn't get anything new from it. It's culled from questions he answered on his website over the years, and some speeches he gave, all of which I've already read. But it's been a while, and this new presentation of them allowed me to be persuaded by them all over again.
Daniel Quinn has an astonishingly unique way of looking at the world. He rarely sees the world the way most people do. He always looks deeper, questions fundamental assumptions underlying ideas and questions. He rarely answers questions directly, but exposes their assumptions. I'm always amazed when I see the assumptions he's able to identify, and wished I could do that myself. He was clearly wishing the same thing, so he wrote a book about it.
He demonstrates the method he uses by teaching it to one of his readers. It's a dialogue in which he lets her identify the assumptions beneath his readers' questions. At first, she's totally lost, and he helps her a little, but by the end, he refuses to help, and makes her do all the work. She seemed to want to be a receptive student at first, but she rises to the challenge, and comes up with some interesting things on her own, that he'd never though of.
The book ends with duplications of two of his best speeches: The New Renaissance and Our Religions. The first is an excellent summary of all his ideas. The second summarizes his ideas on politics and religion, and I find that it nicely summarizes of my own ideas on them, since I agree with him completely.
All of this in only 200 pages, mostly a dialogue format with a lot of whitespace, so the book is a breeze to read. Some of the questions it answers and the speeches at the end are so important that I'd recommend this as the next Daniel Quinn book people read if they've read Ishmael and are curious to read more, even though I think his other books are also extremely important.
Daniel Quinn has an astonishingly unique way of looking at the world. He rarely sees the world the way most people do. He always looks deeper, questions fundamental assumptions underlying ideas and questions. He rarely answers questions directly, but exposes their assumptions. I'm always amazed when I see the assumptions he's able to identify, and wished I could do that myself. He was clearly wishing the same thing, so he wrote a book about it.
He demonstrates the method he uses by teaching it to one of his readers. It's a dialogue in which he lets her identify the assumptions beneath his readers' questions. At first, she's totally lost, and he helps her a little, but by the end, he refuses to help, and makes her do all the work. She seemed to want to be a receptive student at first, but she rises to the challenge, and comes up with some interesting things on her own, that he'd never though of.
The book ends with duplications of two of his best speeches: The New Renaissance and Our Religions. The first is an excellent summary of all his ideas. The second summarizes his ideas on politics and religion, and I find that it nicely summarizes of my own ideas on them, since I agree with him completely.
All of this in only 200 pages, mostly a dialogue format with a lot of whitespace, so the book is a breeze to read. Some of the questions it answers and the speeches at the end are so important that I'd recommend this as the next Daniel Quinn book people read if they've read Ishmael and are curious to read more, even though I think his other books are also extremely important.
July 7, 2018
Fantastic book. I praise not necessarily its content, which is good but I feel somewhat trodden ground (for me), but rather its intent and structure. The book is, outside of the appendices, a conversation. A conversation recorded and transcribed for the purposes of transmitting the author's methods for arriving at a worldview that other people view as fundamentally alien. The author did something that I've conceptualized but haven't yet completed called elucidating implicit technique. I'm actually not sure that I can say that he's done this because in the first place, I already arrived at the conclusions that the author arrives at by use of the methods outlined, so I can't tell if this book specifically works on me and, in the second place, I have no other people who have read it (and weren't in the same position I was in) to compare my experience to. However, what's important here is the attempt and the quality of the attempt.
The underlying message here is simple... deceptively simple. There are underlying assumptions and beliefs to our worldview in western civilization that we haven't examined and which lead us to be blind, sometimes wilfully so, to the reality of the decisions we make and support. That's the short version. It's NOT worth a read if you're not the type of person who wants to get into other people's heads and see how they tick. If you're not that type, please read Quinn's other books. In them he's made his conclusions plain through narrative (good narrative at that).
The underlying message here is simple... deceptively simple. There are underlying assumptions and beliefs to our worldview in western civilization that we haven't examined and which lead us to be blind, sometimes wilfully so, to the reality of the decisions we make and support. That's the short version. It's NOT worth a read if you're not the type of person who wants to get into other people's heads and see how they tick. If you're not that type, please read Quinn's other books. In them he's made his conclusions plain through narrative (good narrative at that).
Read
December 9, 2024Good! My first Daniel Quinn book. I think it would have been better to start with another one of his books, but I kinda liked jumping into how different this book was.
I like his interpretations of things; I feel super similarly, so it’s nice to have another way to put my thoughts and ideas into words.
Quotes:
“Daniel. And if you happen to have a chief executive like George W. Bush who doesn't give a damn about the environment?
Elaine. Then stricter laws are going to be ignored or repealed
Daniel. And who put George Bush in office?
Elaine. People who don't give a damn about the environment. People with unchanged minds.
Daniel. So ...
Elaine. That's the general rule. Passing new laws only helps if the electorate really wants to see them enforced.
Daniel. So sending letters to your legislators demanding change — which can also be counted as action — isn't going to do much good, either.
Elaine. No.”
“Elaine. I see what you're saying.
lifetime of experience outweighs what
the eyes are taking in.”
“But none of those things is going to save us — I wish they could. What we must have — and nothing less— is a whole world full of people with changed minds. Scientists with changed minds, industrialists with changed minds, schoolteachers with changed minds, politicians with changed minds — though they'll be the last, of course. Which is why we can't wait for them or expect them to lead us into a new era. Their minds won't change until the minds of their constituents change.”
I like his interpretations of things; I feel super similarly, so it’s nice to have another way to put my thoughts and ideas into words.
Quotes:
“Daniel. And if you happen to have a chief executive like George W. Bush who doesn't give a damn about the environment?
Elaine. Then stricter laws are going to be ignored or repealed
Daniel. And who put George Bush in office?
Elaine. People who don't give a damn about the environment. People with unchanged minds.
Daniel. So ...
Elaine. That's the general rule. Passing new laws only helps if the electorate really wants to see them enforced.
Daniel. So sending letters to your legislators demanding change — which can also be counted as action — isn't going to do much good, either.
Elaine. No.”
“Elaine. I see what you're saying.
lifetime of experience outweighs what
the eyes are taking in.”
“But none of those things is going to save us — I wish they could. What we must have — and nothing less— is a whole world full of people with changed minds. Scientists with changed minds, industrialists with changed minds, schoolteachers with changed minds, politicians with changed minds — though they'll be the last, of course. Which is why we can't wait for them or expect them to lead us into a new era. Their minds won't change until the minds of their constituents change.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2019
What an exquisite read!
Are you concerned about what got us into the societal, economic, and climactic crisis' we are in? Do you yearn to know what can and cannot be done? Are you afraid of fake news? This book explains a lot and will give you the tools to use your own mind to find the answers that will make sense to you.
The book starts out with Daniel answering questions about what it is he does. For example "How do you do what you do?" is how I think it went. As the interviewer proceeds, he goes onto getting her to do the thinking herself, which she seems reluctant to do. It seems slightly dated in its male/female relations, but if you understand the time period it was written in, this will make sense. He goes onto explain by giving examples of his critical thinking process. It seemed a little boorish at the beginning but quickly captured my attention as the evidence of his suburb thought process began to be unveiled.
I have little experience reviewing books or giving critical analysis' myself, but one thought that I had near the end of the book was 'this book was written in a style that seemed like evolution itself' which was analogous to the theme of the book.
A great read.
Are you concerned about what got us into the societal, economic, and climactic crisis' we are in? Do you yearn to know what can and cannot be done? Are you afraid of fake news? This book explains a lot and will give you the tools to use your own mind to find the answers that will make sense to you.
The book starts out with Daniel answering questions about what it is he does. For example "How do you do what you do?" is how I think it went. As the interviewer proceeds, he goes onto getting her to do the thinking herself, which she seems reluctant to do. It seems slightly dated in its male/female relations, but if you understand the time period it was written in, this will make sense. He goes onto explain by giving examples of his critical thinking process. It seemed a little boorish at the beginning but quickly captured my attention as the evidence of his suburb thought process began to be unveiled.
I have little experience reviewing books or giving critical analysis' myself, but one thought that I had near the end of the book was 'this book was written in a style that seemed like evolution itself' which was analogous to the theme of the book.
A great read.
Read
January 14, 2021"If you're clever enough to come up with that solution in sixty seconds, shouldn't an omniscient and omnipotent God be able to do that as well?" (p. 60 referring to fixing the worlds population problem.)
"For hundreds of thousands of years they'd been living perfectly well where they were and as they were, but they weren't living up to our standards, and it's our divine mandate that everyone in the world must be made to live the way we live, whatever the cost. It would have been immoral for us to leave them alone, just as it would be immoral for us to leave them alone now. Much better to send them food to maintain them in a perpetual starvation than to let their populations decline to a point where they can live within their own resources." (p. 107 referring to the starving millions.)
my favorite:
"If God is willing to prevent evil but unable to do so, then he's impotent. If he's able to prevent evil but not willing to do so, then he's corrupt. And so, since evil certainly exists, God is either impotent or corrupt and therefore cannot be God." (p. 164,165 refering to how God is supposed to be both omnipotent and good.)
"For hundreds of thousands of years they'd been living perfectly well where they were and as they were, but they weren't living up to our standards, and it's our divine mandate that everyone in the world must be made to live the way we live, whatever the cost. It would have been immoral for us to leave them alone, just as it would be immoral for us to leave them alone now. Much better to send them food to maintain them in a perpetual starvation than to let their populations decline to a point where they can live within their own resources." (p. 107 referring to the starving millions.)
my favorite:
"If God is willing to prevent evil but unable to do so, then he's impotent. If he's able to prevent evil but not willing to do so, then he's corrupt. And so, since evil certainly exists, God is either impotent or corrupt and therefore cannot be God." (p. 164,165 refering to how God is supposed to be both omnipotent and good.)
July 23, 2023
While not one of the best books I've read, it does allow one to develop a new paradigm of observing and examining "our" world and the assumptions that society and even ourselves have developed to encompass the need to uphold these ways of living.
If you've read Ishmael, one common assumption is in question is the idea that increasing food supply will resolve world hunger, particularly in war torn or poverty dense areas.
A word of caution for people who hold fundamental beliefs. Be prepared to have them questioned and perhaps dissolved.
All in all, a brilliant underrated read!
If you've read Ishmael, one common assumption is in question is the idea that increasing food supply will resolve world hunger, particularly in war torn or poverty dense areas.
A word of caution for people who hold fundamental beliefs. Be prepared to have them questioned and perhaps dissolved.
All in all, a brilliant underrated read!
June 14, 2017
Helping a student analyze the memes of Mother Culture, this is a course in logic and deduction. Most interesting and inspiring, especially when he teases out the real reason some people don't believe in human evolution prior to the Agricultural Revolution.
February 23, 2019
Oh!
This could possibly be the simplest book I've read that did not improve my vocabulary but challenged my thinking process. Challenged, improved and substantiated the way of critically reflecting and reading between the lines. Thanks Quinn!
This could possibly be the simplest book I've read that did not improve my vocabulary but challenged my thinking process. Challenged, improved and substantiated the way of critically reflecting and reading between the lines. Thanks Quinn!
October 1, 2019
Another great book by Daniel Quinn. Though not as entertaining as his works of fiction, there was just as much to be gleaned. Insight after insight, I will be sure to reread this one in years to come.
August 2, 2020
I think Quinn's books and messages are important, but his voice in this book was stilted and egotistical, which made it a bit of a chore to read. I do think his approach is novel and interesting, and I appreciate him sharing it here.
June 7, 2025
For me this book was an eye opening experience. It gave me a new vision on life and on us.
I totally recommend it. If you're reading/ listening carefully, it has the potential to change the way you see life.
I totally recommend it. If you're reading/ listening carefully, it has the potential to change the way you see life.
February 4, 2021
Durchaus interessante Denkanstöße aber irgendwie fehlt die Struktur. Es wirkt halt mehr wie ein Interview als ein Buch. Die Kapiteln am Ende sind interessant.
February 28, 2023
Short and with the usage of Religion, I felt that it promotes a religious feel more than an idealogy. But still good.
March 6, 2024
2.5 too condescending.
November 23, 2024
Outstanding thoughts and the five step "Quinnian method" but the condescending tone is too much.
March 21, 2025
This was my second read of this book. I can't remember how long ago I read it for the first time. 10 years? 12? Not sure.
Definitely worth the read, but some of my standard frustrations with Daniel Quinn are probably MOST evident in this book.
More than anywhere else (everywhere, but more here than in other places), Quinn comes across as having a very, very high opinion of his own thinking. This book is a long dialogue with "Elaine," a reader who wanted to meet him and talk about things and agreed to allow their conversation to become a book. I'm not sure "Elaine" is real or if this is just a premise to hang the book on, but either way, as much as I typically like dialogues (that format worked great with the "Ishmael" books) it's a bit painful here. Quinn just comes across as very, very pleased with himself. Elaine comes across as not being able to think for herself much at all.
While I very much enjoy Quinn's writing and think that his ideas are important, they're not as unique as he tends to think they are. Years back I was on the board of a group called The New Environment Association. It was a group founded in the 1970s, long before Quinn's ideas were published, and the similarities between the "founding documents" of that group and Quinn's work are overwhelming. No accusations of plagiarism are necessary; rather, many people looking at this stuff can come to similar conclusions.
The other "complaint" I have, here and in other places, is the lack of any kind of "put it into action" narrative. I get it-- vision over programs, change minds, etc. That was a big thing with the NEA too, the leadership was very reluctant to say "let's try this specific thing." But sometimes it feels that Quinn is hiding behind the excuse of "I don't know what things will look like 50 years from now" to avoid talking about a single first step a person might take tomorrow. I don't expect a complete prescription, but some nudge, some "hey, here's something we could try" would truly go a long way. That's just how people work.
Anyway, those complaints aside, this is definitely a worthwhile book and I'm very glad I revisited it.
The two essays at the end serve as nice distillations of Quinn's overall ideas.
The main text is in theory a look at "how" Quinn does his thinking. It's not so much intended to be a stand along volume explaining his ideas, but rather a look at the process that goes into forming those ideas.
I'm not sure that it's incredibly valuable for that or that it entirely hits the mark, but it is interesting. A basic course on critical thinking or media literacy could maybe get someone farther along the path; again, his approach isn't radically different from other thinkers. "Don't take everything at face value" and "look at the presuppositions behind that statement" are basic tenets in any halfway decent Philosophy class, standard practice for any punk scene worth it's name.
But this is still pretty good. If you haven't it read it yet, you should. It's worth it.
Definitely worth the read, but some of my standard frustrations with Daniel Quinn are probably MOST evident in this book.
More than anywhere else (everywhere, but more here than in other places), Quinn comes across as having a very, very high opinion of his own thinking. This book is a long dialogue with "Elaine," a reader who wanted to meet him and talk about things and agreed to allow their conversation to become a book. I'm not sure "Elaine" is real or if this is just a premise to hang the book on, but either way, as much as I typically like dialogues (that format worked great with the "Ishmael" books) it's a bit painful here. Quinn just comes across as very, very pleased with himself. Elaine comes across as not being able to think for herself much at all.
While I very much enjoy Quinn's writing and think that his ideas are important, they're not as unique as he tends to think they are. Years back I was on the board of a group called The New Environment Association. It was a group founded in the 1970s, long before Quinn's ideas were published, and the similarities between the "founding documents" of that group and Quinn's work are overwhelming. No accusations of plagiarism are necessary; rather, many people looking at this stuff can come to similar conclusions.
The other "complaint" I have, here and in other places, is the lack of any kind of "put it into action" narrative. I get it-- vision over programs, change minds, etc. That was a big thing with the NEA too, the leadership was very reluctant to say "let's try this specific thing." But sometimes it feels that Quinn is hiding behind the excuse of "I don't know what things will look like 50 years from now" to avoid talking about a single first step a person might take tomorrow. I don't expect a complete prescription, but some nudge, some "hey, here's something we could try" would truly go a long way. That's just how people work.
Anyway, those complaints aside, this is definitely a worthwhile book and I'm very glad I revisited it.
The two essays at the end serve as nice distillations of Quinn's overall ideas.
The main text is in theory a look at "how" Quinn does his thinking. It's not so much intended to be a stand along volume explaining his ideas, but rather a look at the process that goes into forming those ideas.
I'm not sure that it's incredibly valuable for that or that it entirely hits the mark, but it is interesting. A basic course on critical thinking or media literacy could maybe get someone farther along the path; again, his approach isn't radically different from other thinkers. "Don't take everything at face value" and "look at the presuppositions behind that statement" are basic tenets in any halfway decent Philosophy class, standard practice for any punk scene worth it's name.
But this is still pretty good. If you haven't it read it yet, you should. It's worth it.
December 6, 2012
I thought it was going to be about writing! Instead, this little book (with the marvelous title) is an expansion on some of Quinn's thinking from his previous books, beginning with Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit.
If you haven't read Ishmael (and its sequels), you really must, but this isn't the book to begin with. Or necessarily end with.
I love Daniel Quinn's ideas. I believe he's one of the foremost thinkers of our age. I like the way he writes and I like his "Martian anthropologist" way of looking at culture. That said, I think his Socratic approach works a heck of a lot better in fiction than when he's transcribing a conversation/interview he did with an actual reader/fan. I felt patronized by proxy and I don't like it.
Still a terrifically thought-provoking little book, even if I don't appreciate the tone.
If you haven't read Ishmael (and its sequels), you really must, but this isn't the book to begin with. Or necessarily end with.
I love Daniel Quinn's ideas. I believe he's one of the foremost thinkers of our age. I like the way he writes and I like his "Martian anthropologist" way of looking at culture. That said, I think his Socratic approach works a heck of a lot better in fiction than when he's transcribing a conversation/interview he did with an actual reader/fan. I felt patronized by proxy and I don't like it.
Still a terrifically thought-provoking little book, even if I don't appreciate the tone.
April 12, 2014
Reading a book right after you finish a book. (My first review.)
I must say, while I find certain aspects of Quinn rather disconnected to broader culture, his descriptions of himself as a Martian anthropologist to be fitting yet childish, and the title of this book absolutely horrible (truly, the title and cover are in unacceptable condition), Daniel Quinn is a very thoughtful, perceptive, and original human being. And, for me, these are all highly-valuable and uncommon traits.
This is, first and foremost, a book anent thinking. It is about assumptions, culture and memes, the dissection of the origin and promulgation of thoughts, and larger cognitive and metacognitive processes. It is lucid and digestible, and I found its Socratic style of dialogue both refreshing and delightful.
Well done, truly.
I must say, while I find certain aspects of Quinn rather disconnected to broader culture, his descriptions of himself as a Martian anthropologist to be fitting yet childish, and the title of this book absolutely horrible (truly, the title and cover are in unacceptable condition), Daniel Quinn is a very thoughtful, perceptive, and original human being. And, for me, these are all highly-valuable and uncommon traits.
This is, first and foremost, a book anent thinking. It is about assumptions, culture and memes, the dissection of the origin and promulgation of thoughts, and larger cognitive and metacognitive processes. It is lucid and digestible, and I found its Socratic style of dialogue both refreshing and delightful.
Well done, truly.
November 21, 2015
This is a book I would recommend only to those already familiar with Quinn's work. In it he details the mechanics behind his thinking in order to address the most persistent question throughout his career: how do you do what you do? He does this by inviting one of his readers and teachers her to adopt the perspective of a "Martian anthropologist" and begin analyzing the assumptions and prejudices behind the questions.
Quinn is wonderfully prepares and uses many fantastic analogies, but the pupil is often so tragically inept that she is no longer relatable and it damages the progress Quinn is able to make. Overall a good read, but unfortunately limited by the narrow mind he was conversing with.
Quinn is wonderfully prepares and uses many fantastic analogies, but the pupil is often so tragically inept that she is no longer relatable and it damages the progress Quinn is able to make. Overall a good read, but unfortunately limited by the narrow mind he was conversing with.
February 18, 2008
sort of the same format as his Ishmael and My Ishmael books... but different, in that it's an actual dialogue between the author and a reader(disciple?) rather than a dialogue between a gorilla playing the part of the author and a made up character. A slim volume covering one weekend of discussion/lessons that provides some addition insight into Quinn's ideas and a bit of 'behind the scenes' as it were, of his method of working on the problems he works on. Also contains transcripts of a couple speeches.
A good supplement to the rest of Quinn's oevre, though the drawbacks to using an acutal conversation instead of an invented one are sometimes evident.
A good supplement to the rest of Quinn's oevre, though the drawbacks to using an acutal conversation instead of an invented one are sometimes evident.
December 29, 2010
Wow. I got as much out of the two appendices (an essay called "The New Renaissance" and another called "Our Religions: Are They the Religions of Humanity Itself?") as I did from the text of the book itself. I highly recommend the two essays, which do a good job of capturing the essence of Quinn's other books. They can be found here:
http://www.ishmael.com/education/writ...
http://www.ishmael.com/Education/Writ...
This book has a different goal. It's a series of exercises in training the mind to recognize the voice of Mother Culture and be able to question it. Very good stuff.
http://www.ishmael.com/education/writ...
http://www.ishmael.com/Education/Writ...
This book has a different goal. It's a series of exercises in training the mind to recognize the voice of Mother Culture and be able to question it. Very good stuff.
October 10, 2011
There are books I cannot put down, but rarely do I find myself devouring a book as I did 'If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways'. (And to think I almost put it back on the bookstore shelf!) In short, I found that Daniel Quinn has a vital message to impart to the world regarding the future of mankind; and that the way that he looks at things and evaluates them to be thought-bending, yet logical. Now if only I can retrain myself to look at things similarly!
June 17, 2009
A good refresher for those who have read Quinn's Ishmael series! Not only does he review some of his main points from Ishmael, he tackles new questions from readers and tries to reveal his thought processes so we can all think like "Martian anthropologists." I found the second half of the book better as I think his reader/student that he is dialogging with has caught on a bit more.
January 27, 2014
Loved this, Ishmael bothered me because I couldn't really get into the story. But, I loved the thoughts in it. This book has not just the thoughts but a peak into the whole thought process behind them. I have developed many oh his same thoughts but never tried to follow my thought process to see where they came from or how they developed. I need to buy this book!
November 11, 2008
This is another one of those books that you have to put down for a day or two in order to grasp everything that's going on in Daniel's head.
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