Tales of Adam

Daniel Quinn has an amazing take on these well know biblical figures. Like most of his books it makes you question what you thought you knew.

This is a short book which is full of wisdom and thoughts to ponder. Adam tells his son after teaching him what he knows about the Law of Life,"If any man tells you he knows the whole of the Law of Life or that he can encompass it in words, that man is a fool or a liar, because the Law of Life is written in the universe and no man can know the whole of it. If ever you're in doubt about the Law, consult the caterpillar or the gull or the jackal; no man will even know it better or follow it more steadfastly than they.". Quinn takes us back to a time when all creatures were equal in wisdom and rights and intertwined with each other for survival. The "fire of life" was passed from one to another in the natural order of life. What man has forgotten over time is that we are only an equal member of that order of life. "We make our journey in the company of others; the deer, the rabbit, the bison, and the quail walk before us, and the lion, the eagle, the wolf, the vulture, and the hyena walk behind us. All our paths lie together in the hand of god and none is wider than any other or favored above any other. The worm that creeps beneath your foot is making its journey across the hand of god as surely as you are."

Throughout reading Tales of Adam, i was reminded of past and ongoings themes of Mr. Quinn's work, being that, beautifully woven into each paragraph is a sense of animistic spirituallity. These seven simple tales delve deeper into those concepts in refreshing and entertaining ways with the use of parables and fables to let not only our imaginations run wild, but to offer a perspective that is so sadly unheard in most of the modern world. That is the perspective of an indigineous, tribal hunter-gatherer, and his son. After finishing this relatively short read, i felt i had come a few more paces in my own journey towards re-connecting with my home and understanding more clearly the spirituallity and lifestyle of those who live in the community of life with reverence. While this is definetly something for fans of Daniel Quinn and those interested in (Neo) Tribalism, i'd like to recommend it to others aching for something new, something different, something to be used as a tool for saving the world.

Here is a review from my professor daughter:I have just finished Tales of Adam and, as with all of DQs books, have come away with a new sense of direction. As a business instructor at a local college, I find that getting others to understand the realities we face is often easier using parables and then letting the students come to their own conclusions. This book is a gem for that - it is short, simple, beautiful stories that do not allow the reader to miss the point. I have already used "The Business of a Rabbit" in my Business Ethics class and several students have asked where they can get the book. The message travels on, one person at a time.

In this book, we follow a hunter-gatherer, Adam, and his son Abel through different episodes of their lives where Adam teaches his son what he must know not only to survive but to live a good life. As with all good parables, each of these has layers of meaning. There are practical, emotional, and spiritual lessons contained in each story. Quinn shows that the knowledge and experience that humans gained over millions of years as hunter-gatherers still applies, even though few of us actually live as hunter-gatherers. The wisdom of that life is very much needed today. As in The Story of B, The Man Who Grew Young, and The Holy, Quinn inspires and encourages with a love for the world and for life that our culture clearly lacks. I closed the book with tears in my eyes because Quinn had once again reminded me of that love. Throughout, he writes with a poetic fire that builds and builds to the final story "The Web Woven Endlessly" which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. This is a book for all ages that will be read and understood differently at different times in one's life and I think new readers as well as long-time Quinn fans will love it. How do we see ourselves? Our lives as a whole? How do we act and move on in difficult situations? What is life all about anyway? Big questions are addressed in this book and are answered by profoundly satisfying stories, which bring one deeper into the vision at the core of all Quinn's work, the vision that fostered the lives of humans for millions of years and that can only enhance our own lives when we adopt it for ourselves.

For anyone who has read Ishmael- this is for you. Although the book is short, the stories that are in it are well worth the price. For people who have not read Ishmael- read Ishmael and Story of B first! They may change your life forever.