Sorry Linda, and others, didn't mean to be obtuse.  Ishmael is the name of a
book by Daniel Quinn.  In the book, the main characters are the narrator, a
youngish man, and Ishmael, a philosopher/teacher who happends to be a
gorilla.  The book is very hard to describe without giving away all the good
lines, but basically it's a discussion between the man and the philosopher
about the history of civilization and relationships between First World and
traditional cultures, and among people within those cultures.  Wonderful,
wonderful book!!

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Specialist in infant feeding and growth of children
Texas A&M University
e-mail to [log in to unmask]
(409) 845-5256
(409) 778-4513