The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self [Paperback]

Dan P. MacAdams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572301880 | ISBN-13: 978-1572301887 | Publication Date: January 3, 1997 | Edition: 1

'Who Am I?' 'How do I fit in the world around me?' From early childhood, we are all faced with key questions of human identity. This revealing and innovative book demonstrates that each of us discovers what is true and meaningful, in our lives and in ourselves, through the creation of personal myths. Challenging the traditional view that our personalities are formed by fixed, unchanging characteristics, or by predictable stages through which every individual travels, The Stories We Live By persuasively argues that, strange as it may seem, we are the stories we tell. Based on more than 10 years of research and hundreds of first-hand interviews, the book accessibly links scientific investigation to the struggles and joys of real people. Sensitively told anecdotes and mini-life stories draw readers into exploring the intimate connection between our personal myths and our perceptions, relationships, and life choices. Providing an integrative view of human beings as evolving story-tellers whose tales deepen and broaden with age, The Stories We Live By describes an ongoing process that allows us, within limits, to develop and revise our stories and open up new possibilities for our lives. This book will be value for all those who are interested in enhancing their self-understanding. It will also serve as useful classroom text for undergraduates and advanced students in personality and social psychology, counselling and psychotherapy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

No self-help treatise about exorcising fatalistic visions of one's life, this frequently wooden but intermittently arresting book proposes that "each of us comes to know who he or she is by creating a heroic story of the self." McAdams, a Chicago psychologist, argues against archetypal myths, although he makes tantalizing if fleeting references to fairy tales and other properties of mass culture. A little heavy on developmental theory, the work hypothesizes how people begin to "gather material" for their "self-defining stories" in infancy and early childhood. In several case studies McAdams demonstrates the role of myth, while one of the stronger sections explains how to write a narrative to uncover personal myths, offering a list of questions for that purpose. Elsewhere, McAdams discusses "imagoes"--defined as idealized concepts of self, the characters in personal narratives--and explores how such historical events as the Kennedy assassination are assimilated into one's own saga.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Ranging widely within the canon of Western psychology, McAdams claims to offer a new perspective on personal mythmaking. He discriminates between the collective myths that people inherit and the private myths that individuals create to formulate their identities. Using the terminology of literary narrative study and behavioral psychology, McAdams attempts to combine the two into a new theory of identity. There is a great deal of discussion of themes like grief and intimacy; references to Freud, Erik Erikson, and others; and reviews of the passage from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. While the book is easy reading, its theme has been dealt with before in numerous psychology textbooks. However, it could serve as an introduction to psychology and mythmaking. For large psychology collections.
- Nancy E. Zuwiyya, Binghamton City Sch. Dist., N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1 edition (January 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572301880
• ISBN-13: 978-1572301887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Seminal Work, September 26, 2005

By 

Frank Markow (San Dimas, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stories We Live by: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self (Hardcover)

If you want to understand narrative psychology in a developmental framework here is where to start. It is not overly technical, which is actually a bit of a drawback for those of us who would like more background and theory. But, it is an excellent intruduction to the field, very readable, and many people cite McAdams in their subsequent reserach (which I certainly will be doing).

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time for Dan McAdams, June 5, 2007

By 

Lightwright (Off coast of Mass) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self (Paperback)

A dear friend and life long student of Psych, who is about to become a doctor of Psych gave me this book several years ago. She'd written so many notes in it, which to me translates into value and reverance for what one reads. I always meant to read it, life just kept getting in the way. Finally it was time for me to meet the mind of Dan McAdams, at least as it was when he wrote this book, I think perhaps, slightly before it's time, maybe. It helped me to foster insights that have been like donning good reading glasses in a life with some patches of fog.

It's always so refreshing to relearn something we already knew at a deep unconcious level and be able to resonate with that on a higher level. This is what this book does for me. I highly suggest it to those who are interested in writing (anything) or learning more about them selves and how we all effect each other as well. No man is an island we are simutaneosly land and water to each other. Thank you Dr. McAdams and Dr. Sunshine my friend for giving me this ray of light.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Stories We Live By, January 4, 2012

By 

T. Baynham Jr. "conductor" (Richmond,Va.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self (Paperback)

Dan McAdams' book is a powerful book that helps the reader understand the importance of one's personal story. While the book is essential for all Christians, it is an essential resource for clergy and those in ministry leadership. Mc Adams highlights two major themes in the book; that individuals are their stories, and the need for revising and claiming our personal stories. The book includes significant research to support McAdams' thesis.