Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

from Craig_Pratt

Well-written compilation of diverse research findings bearing upon the purpose and function of stories. Author's use of his children and their experience adds a personal dimension that resonates with my experience as father and grandfather even while preserving the broad view of studies and exper...

from eachurch

An interesting look at the importance and role of storytelling from a wide-range of fields--neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology. It was thought-provoking and delightfully entertaining. Unfortunately, I didn't think that he examined some of his conclusions closely enough.

from DLMorrese

How stories are told has changed over time, from a group of hunter-gatherers listening to a storyteller around a fire to online role-playing games, but they're all stories. At the core, they're all about characters adapting and dealing with uncomfortable situations. As an exploration of the innat...

from Laurenbdavis

onathan Gottschall's book explores the ways in which man is a story-telling creature, why this is so and what telling stories does for us, individually and collectively. Chapters cover everything from sacred creation myths to dreams to the inherent unreliability of memoir to propaganda to televis...

from Razinha

Delightful book that I put on my list a couple of years ago when I heard about it on NPR, and only now stopped to read. It pairs well with some of the memory research/reading I've done. Gottschall discusses memory later in the book and says Memory isn't an outright fiction; it is merely a fiction...