Richard is looking for answers and Donald spends his time trying to convince Richard that all he needs to do is look within himself to find the truth he seeks. The majority of the novel is comprised of discussions between these two men, Richard and Donald. The story is simple to follow – just two guys flying their biplanes and giving rides to random people across the mid-West, $3.oo for 10 minutes of air. Illusions is deceptive in that it is an easy read, while the meat of it resides in philosophy and existentialism. Nevertheless, I like the beach, so there is that too. I was pretty young when I first watched it, so I don’t remember much beyond Jonathan the seagull and many scenes at the beach. Seagull was made into a Golden Globe award-winning movie starring Grammy winning singer-songwriter Neil Diamond just three years after it was published. Bach was a national best seller in the 1970s. If his name is not entirely familiar to you, you may recognize the novels One, or Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah was written by Richard Bach. Though small, this is an incredibly thought-provoking work whose brevity is nevertheless meaningful.

If I were the kind of person who could tolerate dings and creases in my books, I could see packing it around. This novel was first published in 1977, while my 1989 copy fits in my back jeans pocket. I was excited to receive Illusions because my wife had recently been talking to me about it as something I might enjoy putting on my reading list.

Richard bach books list