Author Richard Bach followed Jonathan Livingston Seagull with Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.
In real life, Richard Bach would spend a summer rampaging, flying around the Midwest in an old biplane, landing in farmers’ fields, and getting permission to ride his biplane and sleep in the fields at night.
Illusions is the story of what may have happened one summer when Richard Bach met another barnstormer, Donald Shimoda, who was a slightly more evolved human being.
The rest of the story is about their adventures together one summer and the things Richard learned from Donald Shimoda.
One of the really nice features of the book is that it is peppered with quotes that became learnings for Richard, all taken from Donald’s Messiah Handbook.
Some quotes are a bit out there, but most of them are powerful and spot on. Here are two examples:
“Defend your limitations and, indeed, they are yours.”
“A wish is never granted without the power to make it come true. However, you may have to work hard to achieve it.
The book is really a story about change and transformation, set in story form.
If you promise not to continue reading, it will end up like no other book I have read.
I give it 4 out of 5 markers.
