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Providence: The Story of a Fifty-Year Vision Quest
PROVIDENCE" is Quinn's fascinating memoir of hislife-long spiritual voyage. His journey takes him from a childhood dream inOmaha setting him on a search for fulfillment, to his time as a postulant inthe Trappist order under the guidance of eminent theologian Thomas Merton.Later, his quest took him through the deep self-discovery of psychoanalysis, through a failed marriage during the turbulent and exciting 60s, to findingfulfillment with his wife Rennie and a career as a writer. In PROVIDENCE Quinn also details his rejection of organized religion and his personalrediscovery of what he says is humankind's first and only universalreligion, the theology that forms the basis for "Ishmael."
Cover Artist: Tom Hallman
Cover Artist: Tom Hallman
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
33 people are currently reading
722 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Quinn
53 books1,895 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 47 reviews
June 18, 2009
I just read a few of the other reviews posted about Quinn's book. It seems many people think that he views himself as some sort of savior. Knowing people, I'm not surprised that so many would be threatened by someone who truly possesses wisdom in a world where not too many are wise. If anything, Quinn comes across as humble, recognizing that his place in the world is just as important as that of anyone else.
I didn't just read this book, but I spent time really analyzing it. I have tabs and notes throughout the book. It worked it's way into a philosophy paper on ethics that I recently wrote. It was a great book, and if people would really look for the substance it contains, they'll gain much from it.
I didn't just read this book, but I spent time really analyzing it. I have tabs and notes throughout the book. It worked it's way into a philosophy paper on ethics that I recently wrote. It was a great book, and if people would really look for the substance it contains, they'll gain much from it.
June 13, 2013
This book falls right in line with Quinn's other novels I have read (Ishmael, My Ishmael, The story of B). It was the least favorite novel I have read by him, much repetition until the last few chapters which I immensely enjoyed. The overall theme of this book and his others is something I really appreciate in this religious-ruled society...man belongs to the world, the world does NOT belong to man.
November 8, 2019
Another great book that sheds a lot of light into the way Daniel Quinn thinks. A short but potent somewhat of a autobiography but not really. Definitely recommended reading if you've read Quinn's other books!
February 11, 2023
Quinn's short autobiography is an enjoyable look into how the Ishmael series was developed.
April 20, 2015
"The appearance of the Flower Children in the mid-sixties bowled me over. Not because they were dirty, not because they preferred dressing in rags, not because they let their hair grow, but because they'd stopped thinking about the bomb. I hadn't dreamed it was possible to do that. For us, the bomb was new and everylastingly urgent. For them, it was old and boring. For us, the answer was a house in the suburbs and a secure future. For them, the answer was fun and dope and music and sex and love. For them, the answer was to live now instead of waiting till your pension kicked in."
Warning: May Contain Autobiographical-like Substance. A refreshingly well-written (having providing no previous evidence of ability) vignette into the mind that penned Ishmael. Quinn vaguely covers his philosophical journey, from a childhood of isolation to a fall out with the church to . . . well, a man who learns to love himself. It's a shame it took him 40 years to do so, but we can all be glad, because overall I think Quinn is a net-gain for humanity, and I encourage everyone to read Ishmael, preferably in those volatile high school years.
Warning: May Contain Autobiographical-like Substance. A refreshingly well-written (having providing no previous evidence of ability) vignette into the mind that penned Ishmael. Quinn vaguely covers his philosophical journey, from a childhood of isolation to a fall out with the church to . . . well, a man who learns to love himself. It's a shame it took him 40 years to do so, but we can all be glad, because overall I think Quinn is a net-gain for humanity, and I encourage everyone to read Ishmael, preferably in those volatile high school years.
March 20, 2013
I liked this book.
For just the questions it answers about the author himself.
Mr. Quinn has modified my thinking to a certain extent.
I have to know something about a person that does that to my mind.
After reading this and while reading it-
I used the word, "Providence" a lot.
I research the word. Got the meaning clear in my mind.
If you've read a couple books by Quinn and they helped you to see things more like they really are...
Then you'll like this a lot.
For just the questions it answers about the author himself.
Mr. Quinn has modified my thinking to a certain extent.
I have to know something about a person that does that to my mind.
After reading this and while reading it-
I used the word, "Providence" a lot.
I research the word. Got the meaning clear in my mind.
If you've read a couple books by Quinn and they helped you to see things more like they really are...
Then you'll like this a lot.
November 11, 2009
while some of the content was good, I was over all disappointed with this book. Quinn's egocentricity certainly gets the best of him.
April 26, 2019
I know it says it took me about 7 months to read this but I only read the first 15 pages or so the first time I picked it up, then, for no good reason put it down until yesterday. Picking it up again I read it in just a few hours over the last two days.
I had no idea what this was about when I got it at a free little library, but I had read some of his other books so I thought I'd give it a try.
I was not sure of the aim of the book until towards the end, and I'm still wondering if he even knew what he was going for when he set out to write it.
It starts out as a sort of autobiography, but then not quite. I did learn a fair amount about him, but it seems that wasn't the aim of the book, it was only to tell how he got on the path he is on now. Fair enough. Did I need to know that? Well, I'm not sure.
I had no idea what this was about when I got it at a free little library, but I had read some of his other books so I thought I'd give it a try.
I was not sure of the aim of the book until towards the end, and I'm still wondering if he even knew what he was going for when he set out to write it.
It starts out as a sort of autobiography, but then not quite. I did learn a fair amount about him, but it seems that wasn't the aim of the book, it was only to tell how he got on the path he is on now. Fair enough. Did I need to know that? Well, I'm not sure.
June 13, 2018
It has felt like the way I've been thinking for my entire young adult and adult life has finally made sense. I've never known anyone else to express similar thoughts and feelings towards humanity and nature the way I have, until I read this. I've read Ishmael twice now, and that is what made me look up other books by Daniel Quinn because I relate so much to what he wrote in that novel. Hearing his thoughts coming from him, as himself, truly solidifies my connection with this author. I cannot wait to read everything else he has to offer, and purchase as many books for my personal collection as I can so that I may pass them onto others.
April 16, 2019
I've had this book for so long in my amazon cart that I felt it worthwhile to finally purchase it. Brought to my attention because I've read 'Ishmael','The Story of B' and 'My Ishmael', it is and isn't the story behind Ishmael. It's how Quinn came to the realization that led him to write Ishmael. To me and not necessarily the whole point, we are and have been needy people, wanting to be needed and this is why even the worst things happen. Just be and accept that we are with other things.
August 22, 2021
Providence provides a better understanding as to how/why Quinn came about the ideas and concepts of Ishmael while just scraping the surface of talking about those ideas. I feel that the book centers around Quinn trying to make sense of a “vision” of clarity in his youth and while he was able to better articulate in Ishmael, he only begins to further discuss the ideas this vision inspired in the last handful of chapters. I would not have minded additional chapters further exploring these ideas.
May 13, 2024
An excellent supplement to the Ishmael series.
He describes how he formulated his ideas, which came about as a result from being kicked out of the monastery and from working as a publisher of children's educational materials, among other things.
The fact that he's caused more than a few priests to question their own faith gives a certain level of credence to these ideas that make them worth reading IMO
He describes how he formulated his ideas, which came about as a result from being kicked out of the monastery and from working as a publisher of children's educational materials, among other things.
The fact that he's caused more than a few priests to question their own faith gives a certain level of credence to these ideas that make them worth reading IMO
December 21, 2021
Pretty good, though I’m not usually a memoir person.
Really liked the insights in to Daniel’s history and the ways he came about his own beliefs. It gave me a new light on Ishmael and his other books.
Would have given 3.5 if that were possible.
Really liked the insights in to Daniel’s history and the ways he came about his own beliefs. It gave me a new light on Ishmael and his other books.
Would have given 3.5 if that were possible.
February 8, 2025
If you have read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and are left wondering what the author meant by some of the points in the book and what his philosophy of life is--this book is essential. An inspiring, thought-provoking look at presumptions of a human-centric world.
November 26, 2017
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14308888
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14308888
July 26, 2017
Oh this was a great refresher for my love of Ishmael, which I read a few years ago. Interesting to hear the story of how the book was written, along with some of the motivation.
March 14, 2018
Mostly a straight forward (though well written) memoir. Gave up on this before I could find any promise of insight
August 17, 2019
Another wonderful Quinn book. Very interesting to hear how his unique philosophy developed from childhood events and relationships with family members and his dreams.
September 23, 2021
The series is a mindo opening look into
February 28, 2023
Good story about his life and how he came to write the book that has inspired me most.
July 16, 2023
Semi-autobiographical and a praise for animism. Quinn being Quinn. Good stuff as always from a true realism author :)
March 26, 2008
The same trouble that I had with If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways is present in this book, and that's that when Quinn writes 'as himself' he comes accross as very full of himself, and rather cocky. I don't deny his ideas are excellent and many of them unique, but it's still just not an attractive tone.
An imagined (?) conversation between Quinn and some mysterious conversant... actually a person who sneaks into the author's house in the middle of the night, oddly. Quinn takes the reader back into his past to describe the process by which he came to write Ishmael, both the actually decade plus process of writing and re-writing what would eventually become his classic, and the long process by which he came to many of his ideas that found expression in that book.
It makes a good supplement to Ishmael... not bringing up much that's new, but expanding a bit on what is in that book.
An imagined (?) conversation between Quinn and some mysterious conversant... actually a person who sneaks into the author's house in the middle of the night, oddly. Quinn takes the reader back into his past to describe the process by which he came to write Ishmael, both the actually decade plus process of writing and re-writing what would eventually become his classic, and the long process by which he came to many of his ideas that found expression in that book.
It makes a good supplement to Ishmael... not bringing up much that's new, but expanding a bit on what is in that book.
March 19, 2015
This book is basically Quinn's journey of thoughts which leads him to write Ishmael. For many people it is a religion-shattering-kind-of-book, no wonder since he explained very clearly about his experience of being a religious person, taking us back to our own history (and pre-history) and world's system we are living and change our way of thinking. It got me thinking and questioning many things I've known about my own belief as I read half through the book but in the end I got the answers I need without making me doubt my belief.
But this book is more than that, as I had a little conversation with a friend of mine who is a psychology student; I realize that the psychoanalysis plays an important part of Quinn's life that got him to the idea of Ishmael. It is a very good book for those people who believe that everything happens for a reason (I am one of them) and there's always explanation for it. That is why this book deserves five stars.
But this book is more than that, as I had a little conversation with a friend of mine who is a psychology student; I realize that the psychoanalysis plays an important part of Quinn's life that got him to the idea of Ishmael. It is a very good book for those people who believe that everything happens for a reason (I am one of them) and there's always explanation for it. That is why this book deserves five stars.
July 22, 2016
Think his ideas come across better in his fiction.
Best lines from p27: It didn't work, of course, but no one in the whole history of the world ever quit magic just because it didn't work. Nobody in the whole history of the world ever quit on anything just because it didn't work - magic, science, politics, love, religion. But especially magic. To give up on magic because it doesn't work would be silly. If it doesn't work, that just means you didn't do it right. That's how you tell you didn't do it right - when it doesn't work.
Best lines from p27: It didn't work, of course, but no one in the whole history of the world ever quit magic just because it didn't work. Nobody in the whole history of the world ever quit on anything just because it didn't work - magic, science, politics, love, religion. But especially magic. To give up on magic because it doesn't work would be silly. If it doesn't work, that just means you didn't do it right. That's how you tell you didn't do it right - when it doesn't work.
May 17, 2013
Glibly written, almost to the point of simple mindedness (especially regarding his philosophy of education-I agree with the spirit of it but has he not read of any already existing alternative schools, like Waldorf or Montessori?)...self indulgent, smug, smacks of the same narcissism I found in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...and the conceit he uses of an imaginary dialogue with someone who has broken into his house is odd, if not a bit creepy...
August 31, 2008
This explains some of the background of the author and reasons he wrote his previous books, "Ishmael", for one.
From what I understand his earlier books have quite a following.........but I probably am content with reading just two by him. Author has a very interesting background and outlook on life.
From what I understand his earlier books have quite a following.........but I probably am content with reading just two by him. Author has a very interesting background and outlook on life.
December 16, 2014
Insightful, inspiring and connecting read. I loved his book Ishmael and wanted to know more about him so I picked up this book. Has great detail and some really beautiful moments described that brought Daniel Quinn to be the author that wrote Ismael. I devoured it quickly wanting to know more the whole way through.
November 14, 2014
I was hoping after having read Ishmael that this would help me understand it a little better. However, I left this book that as confused about Ishmael, and with the same issues/questions, as I had when I started it. Plus it was incredibly slow going and at times confusing and boring. Not a fan, and I generally enjoy Daniel Quinn books.
June 27, 2007
I read this after reading Ishmael. While it's interesting to discover the source of the ideas in Ishmael, Quinn's writing style *really* made me tired in this book. The sense I got that he thinks he is the world's savior is a little too much for me.
May 19, 2008
After reading Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, I was already pretty sure I'd love this book, but it still managed to surprise me. Again, this is a book about life, and the world around us, and how we choose to exist in it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews