The Storytelling Animal
How Stories Make Us Human
Published on 23. April 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-544-00234-0 (ISBN)
Description
In this delightful and original book, Jonathan Gottschall offers the first unified theory of storytelling. Drawing on neuroscience and evolutionary biology, The Storytelling Animal explores what stories reveal about human nature, how we process information, and think about the world.
Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Gottschall argues that stories help us navigate life's complex social problems ? just as flight simulators prepare pilots for difficult situations. Storytelling has evolved, like other behaviors, to ensure our survival. Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal and explains how stories can change the world for the better.
We know we are master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animal finally reveals how stories shape us.
A NYTimes.com Editor's Choice
A Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Finalist
"A jaunty, insightful new book . . . [that] draws from disparate corners of history and science to celebrate our compulsion to storify everything around us."?The New York Times
Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Gottschall argues that stories help us navigate life's complex social problems ? just as flight simulators prepare pilots for difficult situations. Storytelling has evolved, like other behaviors, to ensure our survival. Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal and explains how stories can change the world for the better.
We know we are master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animal finally reveals how stories shape us.
A NYTimes.com Editor's Choice
A Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Finalist
"A jaunty, insightful new book . . . [that] draws from disparate corners of history and science to celebrate our compulsion to storify everything around us."?The New York Times
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
260 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-544-00234-0 (9780544002340)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2020
1st Edition
Mariner Books
from
€40.99
Available for download
Person
JONATHAN GOTTSCHALL teaches English at Washington & Jefferson College and is one of the leading figures in the movement toward a more scientific humanities. The author or editor of five scholarly books as well as The Storytelling Animal and The Professor in the Cage, Gottschall's work has been prominently featured in The New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among others. Steven Pinker has called him "a brilliant young scholar" whose writing is "unfailingly clear, witty, and exciting."