In a recent Q&A you stated ". . . the author of any literary work doesn't begin with an idea and then set out to fabricate a story to convey it. Rather, it's very much the other way around." I wonder if you might expound on this a bit because it was my understanding that Ishmael was a story fabricated specifically to convey certain ideas. Am I wrong? • Ishmael.org, the work & philosophy of Daniel Quinn