If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways.

It's been almost ten years since I've read ISHMAEL, Daniel Quinn's first masterpiece. And ever since reading it my life has only gotten better. But I've always wondered how DQ worked out the ideas in the book that shattered my worldview at the time. And IF THEY GIVE YOU LINED PAPER WRITE SIDEWAYS is the book that explains his frame of reference. The process he uses to see through the myths of this culture.

On page 102 Daniel Quinn writes, "Almost nothing exerts a more powerful hold on people's minds than unexamined and unchallenged received wisdom..." Examining and challenging the received wisdom that is passed down from one generation to the next is a big part of what DQ's work is about. And it is something that we all can do. This is a book that we can read and reread to help us examine and challenge the recieved wisdom of this culture. It's fun. Try it sometime.

A few years ago, a friend of mine said that Daniel Quinn should recieve the Nobel Peace Prize. I think my friend was on to something. Like DQ said in ISHMAEL, every prison needs a prison industry and our cultural prison's industry is: Consuming life on this planet. Well, DQ has showed us the cracks in this cultural prison's walls with his books. LINED PAPER is another one that may help us escape before we go extinct.

In his newest book, Daniel Quinn proves once again how dedicated he is to his readers. He has written books (Ishmael the most famous) that are used in universities around the world, and are consistently praised as "clear" and "original." When you approach great thinkers and ask them how they do it, you usually don't get much of an answer. They'll often just look at you, either apologetically or smugly, and assure you that they "just do it" and can't really explain. With this book, Daniel Quinn gives us a close-up of how he's been doing it his whole life. He's spent his career trying to rip away the shades so that people can have a clear look at history and what we're doing to the world. Millions of people are grateful to him for brightening their understanding of humanity. But in his latest, his task is sharing not his conclusions, but his method.

Readers of his previous work will enjoy diving right into this dialogue between Daniel Quinn and Elaine, a reader who spent some time with him at his home. It delves into the thought processes that produced Ishmael in the first place. The goal of this book is to assist readers in thinking in clear, original ways about... well... anything. It's not so much the subject matter that is central to this book, but the way into the subject matter, and how that unique path produces conclusions that couldn't have been reached if the usual paths were taken.

This book is not only for readers previously familiar with Quinn. It can serve a lot of purposes. It could be an introduction that will enhance the reading of his other books. It could be an advanced study for someone who has read Ishmael. But also, for anyone, this is a book that teaches critical thinking and comes at it from the unique angle that Quinn always surprises us with.

This one is worth reading and re-reading, and as always with DQ books, sharing with others.