The Storytelling Animal
How Stories Make Us Human
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The Storytelling Animal
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Narrated by:
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Kris Koscheski
About this listen
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. Yet the world of story has long remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. It's easy to say that humans are "wired" for story, but why?
In this delightful and original book, Jonathan Gottschall offers the first unified theory of storytelling. He 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.
Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology, Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal. Did you know that the more absorbed you are in a story, the more it changes your behavior? That all children act out the same kinds of stories, whether they grow up in a slum or a suburb? That people who read more fiction are more empathetic?
Of course, our story instinct has a darker side. It makes us vulnerable to conspiracy theories, advertisements, and narratives about ourselves that are more "truthy" than true. National myths can also be terribly dangerous: Hitler's ambitions were partly fueled by a story. But as Gottschall shows in this remarkable book, stories can also change the world for the better. Most successful stories are moral - they teach us how to live, whether explicitly or implicitly, and bind us together around common values. We know we are master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animal finally reveals how stories shape us.
©2012 Jonathan Gottschall (P)2012 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Storytelling Animal
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Brenda
- 13-04-13
The value of using stories
As a trainer, I am aware of the value of using stories to deliver a message. Stories do seem to generate more interest and, as people 'lean toward' the story, they also lean toward the storyteller. When I use stories, I notice that people seem to 'get it'. They also seem to then generate their own stories, to help them create something meaningful. This book can be a useful starting point to learning how stories may help you get your message across. It is generally agreed that stories 'stick' and are remembered and repeated more easily. This book is certainly worth a listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Berrylan
- 19-08-23
One of the best books on the subject
This is an excellent book. Well researched and really gets the point across.
The narrator should not do accents without a bit of practice. Eek. It really detracts from the content.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Douglas Mackay
- 13-01-19
Disappointing presentation of interesting subject
I enjoyed some points in this book, but found it hard going overall.
I'm very interested in storytelling and the social attraction to it, how it shapes our worlds and interests. I found myself occasionally captivated by ideas in this book, but unfortunately more often I found myself irritated or bored. I found the majority of examples to be weak, especially when espousing stories and persona narratives.
It felt like an amalgamation of pseudo science, in a book written by someone who made massive leaps of assumption, and pretty judgemental in commentary.
This book does have some value, but I find myself repeatedly wishing it was written by someone else.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-02-23
3 out of 5
Read positive feedback online, so I purchased it.
Overall, it would be better leaving out the scientific part of the story, as it is not accurate.
Not what I expected, at least for my taste.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nicholas
- 17-05-13
Interesting angle.
This is an interesting book and looks at the human need for stories from a variety of angles which I enjoyed. The reason I dropped an overall star was because at times it feels terribly overwritten. It felt as though the editor told Jonathan Gottschall that each chapter had to be this long. Although having made his point in each chapter, the author noticed he hadn't reached the word count then padded it out. I may be wrong, but it felt that way.
Secondly, I have to mention the reader. Please, whoever directs or produces these books, do not let them do accents unless they are competent. In this case the accents the reader attempts (for no obvious reason aside from the fact that they are referring to English writer etc) are dreadful and totally detract from the importance of what he is reading.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alek
- 01-02-16
Exciting but not extremely practical
The book is full of interesting facts and research, stories and reasons for them to exist. But it is hard to draw something practically useful from the book. This could be because I needed a kind of more practical guide on storytelling but not reasoning about why stories exist and how they evolve.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- mark twain2
- 25-08-21
good
good summary of the literature.. .. . . . ' ' ' ' ' .
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mossias
- 16-07-18
Delightful, but somewhat repetitive.
a wonderful read, truly a must read for any aspiring story teller, out to understand his craft and its ancient origins.
could be sometimes beating too much on a topic, but still, great book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rturn
- 02-05-18
A fun listen and informative
An accessible whistle stop tour of our species’ obsession with stories.
Covers literature, other media, games, therapy and religion.
Mentions some of the major players in empirical research in this field.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chris Cairns
- 24-03-21
awesome book & audiobook!
A great audiobook for anyone interested in story, and storytelling. And well narrated .
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