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The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human First Edition Edition

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Jonathan Gottschall (Author)
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Jonathan Gottschall (Author)
153 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0547391403
ISBN-10: 0547391404
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition (April 10, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0547391404
  • ISBN-13: 978-0547391403
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 76 people found the following review helpful
The Power of Storytelling . . . Excellent, Must-Read
By Bradley Bevers TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on February 24, 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
First, the short version: Excellent book on the power of story. Fascinating and insightful, a must read if you have any interest at all in the subject matter. One of the best books I have read in a long time . . . fresh, original, and enlightening.

Now the long version: The Storytelling Animal is a fascinating account of the power of story. The author has included many original anecdotes and drawn from hundreds of sources to create a compelling account of how stories make us human.

Each chapter covers a different aspect of this strange phenomenon, from dreams to memoirs to the future of storytelling.

* The Witchery of Story: This chapter is covers the power of story throughout history, geography, and our daily life. The quote that begins the chapter is one of my favorites:

"Lord! When you sell a man a book you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, in a real book I mean." Christopher Morley, Parnassus on Wheels.

* The Riddle of Fiction: Why do we need story? What drives us, what sense does it make? While I did not agree with everything the author concludes here, the theories he presents are insightful. The account he gives of children and the pretend play they engage in is well worth reading, one of my favorite parts of the book.
Hell Is Story-Friendly: Why do we crave stories with trouble in them?

"Stories the world over are almost always about people (or personified animals) with problems. the people want something badly - to survive, to win the girl or the boy, to find a lost child. But big obstacles loom between the protagonists and what they want.Read more ›
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50 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Left wanting more...
By J.Prather TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on March 15, 2012
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
The Storytelling Animal was a fun read, but not the must read I was hoping for. I didn't find anything surprising, or experience any of those WOW moments, when the author brings forth an insight that I had never considered. What I did find interesting was how the author brought all of the different forms of story together. He presents a comprehensive picture of how story permeates every aspect of our lives, and does it in a way that is very readable.

I was familiar with much of the evidence presented in the section of the book dealing with the importance of story in child development. It was an effective presentation, but I was hard pressed to find any new conclusions to draw either from the studies cited or the anecdotal evidence provided.

Perhaps my favorite parts of the book were the ones dealing with our own personal narratives. Our eternal quest to make ourselves the protagonist in our own story, and the unreliability of memory made for interesting reading. Looking at these aspects as merely different forms of storytelling was intriguing and I wanted more information. Unfortunately, not enough was provided.

This was a well written, quick read that will whet the appetite of fiction lovers such as myself, but in the end was kind of insubstantial. I was hoping for something to challenge the common conceptions, and instead experienced a gentle reinforcement of quite a few things I already knew.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Great book
By Artem on April 19, 2012
Format: Hardcover
A nonfiction book about story and its structure that artfully follows the structure of fiction. Gottschall writes with the authority and smarts of the best nonfiction writers and with the art and command of the best fiction writers. Gottschall's book is far and away my favourite book of the year and I look forward with anticipation to his next undertaking.

"The human mind was shaped for story, so that it could be shaped by story." Gottschall writes, as he subtly tells the reader what he is doing to us, "literally" shaping us with his story and letting us all in on the secrets of all storytelling animals.

The science is fascinating and the topics are well researched. I particularly liked the studies on mirror neurons and how it applied to our love of story.

I wish that I had a book like this in my English classes growing up. A book that made me examine myself as a reader/storytelling animal(something that was long overdue), so that I could better examine what I read.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Most intellectually fertile book I've read in years
By Robert Bidinotto on January 26, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
As both a nonfiction author and a bestselling novelist, I've pondered certain puzzles for decades.

Why do people find certain ideologies and philosophies appealing, but not others? Why do we so often hold to our points of view dogmatically, intractable to all facts, reason, and logic? What is the source of dreams? Why do certain common myths seem to be indelible and universal, across cultures and throughout history? Why does music conjure in us mental imagery? What is the key to the kind of motivational commitment that impels some people to face and triumph over incredible odds and obstacles? Why do we find certain people, at first glance, overpoweringly attractive, and others repulsive? Why do we love some books and movies, and hate others?

These and many other mysteries of the human mind and personality are central to the concerns of the artist, psychologist, historian, or person plying any field of communication or persuasion. But is there anything that links together all of these seemingly disparate things?

In this brilliant and engrossing book, Jonathan Gottschall reveals the central, essential, and seminal role played by STORY -- or "Narrative" -- in human thought, action, and culture. Moving with seemingly effortless creative ease from riveting personal anecdotes to abstract sociological theories, from baffling historical phenomena to intriguing psychological experiments, Gottschall offers a key to understanding much that has baffled man throughout the ages.

For decades, I had believed that philosophical ideas and ideologies reigned supreme in the culture; but over time, events and experience began to collide with that assumption.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Pop Nonfiction at its Best

Fantastic read. This book's tone is informal but it's still informative, kind of like one of Brian Green or Steven Pinker's books, but Gotschall moves from topic to topic quickly... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Jeremy Zornow
Five Stars

Enjoyable with some moments of illumination.

Published 3 months ago by Ramon Antonio
I like the casual characterization of all religions as myths created...

Lots of interesting info, but repetitious. I like the casual characterization of all religions as myths created to satisfy our curiosity about origins and destiny.

Published 3 months ago by Compulsive Reader
Awesome book! It is so simple yet so profound

Awesome book! It is so simple yet so profound. We take for granted the importance of story to our everyday lives.

Published 4 months ago by John M. Goodson
A breezy and eclectic overview of the topic.

Best thought of as a breezy and eclectic overview of the topic, aimed at laymen indiscriminately.

The book doesn't necessarily provide much depth or groundbreaking... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Arto Bendiken
Pfffft.

Plagiarism. Read Walter Fisher, had this guy's ideas first.

Published 5 months ago by Letter Size
Some nice gems of knowledge but....

I've been reading lots of books on stories and storytelling lately and while this one made a few nice points - I felt it wasn't cohesive and somewhat mixed up. Read more

Published 5 months ago by gil nevo
Differing Expectations

Not what I expected it to be. A little more the psychology of story than how great stories are built. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Ray Massie
The Real Story Behind Storytelling (Well, Kind Of).

I had seen Jonathan Gottschall's very good TEDTalk about the human propensity for story telling (and why we have it). So, I decided to purchase this book. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Kevin Currie-Knight
Devoid of actual content

Very disappointed. I fully agree with the principle (we think and communicate in stories), but this book is superficial - it doesn't give you any facts, information, research or... Read more

Published 8 months ago by BF

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