He was a not-the-front-page messiah who gave rides on a bi-plane across fields to people who are scared of flying, among others. The one who said, “You don’t judge the quality of a master by the size of his crowds.”
This was a book that I read growing up, at an age when I was forming my philosophy of life.Walking down the beach bare feet with a couple close friends, discussing (read: arguing about) Bach was sometimes the highlight of the day. Illusions-The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah is a treasure chest of Donald Shimoda quotes. These quotes, were very cleverly penned by Bach, and which as a teenager I would scribble on my jeans or my back pack just to remind me of the power of words.
As a writer I could never pin down the genre that Bach wrote in. Maybe magical realism. The book is written partly as notes penned down by the pilot Donald Shimoda in his oil stained journal on his philosophies.
One of the first aspects which struck me was about perspectives.
 “The mark 
of your ignorance is the depth
  of your belief in injustice 
      and tragedy.
                          What the caterpillar 
           calls the end of the world, 
             the master calls a 
               butterfly.“

 No. Shimoda was certainly not your run of the mill, front page messiah.