A friend highly recommended I read this, with the implication that it was a revelatory experience, so I picked up a used copy.There is some merit to the message, but the delivery is atrocious. I found "Ishmael" to be extremely heavy-handed and bombastic - every viewpoint the author espouses is spelled out for the reader through a thin veil of narrative. It's written using simplistic and unimaginative language - utterly lacking in delicacy and subtlety (kinda like this review!). It's comparable to a young adult novel in terms of complexity. The book's premise and the data used to support it has a very dated feel - there's not much in it for modern readers.I recommend you get your fix through some other literary source. If you consider yourself reasonably well-read, "Ishmael" will be a struggle to complete.