The Storytelling Animal

How Stories Make Us Human

By: Jonathan Gottschall

Narrated by: Kris Koscheski

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Gottschall brings a light touch to knotty psychological matters, and he's a fine storyteller himself." ( Kirkus Reviews)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

We humans crave narratives. From ancient fire circles to books to radio and movies to TV sets, headphones, and computers, "story is the glue of human social life."

This short listen may not bring to light any really new concepts, but it offers interesting examples of how we use stories for education, entertainment, and reassurance that there is meaning in life. Gottschall also alerts us to reasons why we should be aware that this tendency also opens us up to the possibility of misinterpreting and being manipulated. We long for patterns and reasons - can conspiracy theories be far behind?

I especially enjoyed the discussion about ways in which new technologies are changing how we tell and experience stories -- from so-called "reality" shows to interactive and role-playing computer games.

The narrator is OK, but I wonder why he felt he had to deliver some quotes in quite bizarre accents. The book starts slowly but picks up in energy and interest as it goes along. I think most people interested in books and psychology will enjoy it.

Making Sense of Life Through Stories

If you stop to think about it, stories are the framework around which we build our understanding of reality--whether the stories revolve around history, religion, myth, nationality, science, gaming, drama, fiction or our own lives.

This is Gottschall's premise and he makes his case pretty convincingly. The book does drag in parts and significant sections consist of summaries of materials covered in more depth in other books. However, unlike some other reviewers, I particularly enjoyed the sections on brain science and the role story plays in our dreams, in mental illness and in the development of human culture. In one example, the author contends that at root, the malaise of depression is the loss of our own story and the effectiveness of talk therapy is in helping us to rebuild our own personal narratives. Although the author doesn't take this step, one might argue that whenever a story loses its vitality, whether it is the story of a nation, culture or religion, it is only a matter of time before the demise of that institution inevitably follows.

Not surprisingly perhaps given his premise, the best parts of this book are in the stories. Narration is sub-par particularly when the narrator ineptly (and distractingly) attempts various accents.

Starts well, then derails

I was expecting a lot more about the history and tradition of storytelling, and maybe some more about mythology. What I got was a lot of canned Freudian theory with all of its potty-focus and repressed sexuality. I don't know why the author went in that direction, but I couldn't stomach the flip attitude and hyperfocus on what to me was irrelevancy.

An okay book, an okay narration

I learned quite a bit from the book, but it needed more depth and more scholarly context.

Surprisingly interesting read

I honestly got this book thinking that I would learn how to better tell stories. I was taken aback by how much depth the book went into the history, psychology, method, and adaption of our species and its need for story. While this book did not provide me with a blueprint for creating stories it has provided me with a new appreciation for the human mind, the need for story to teach better, and a deeper understanding of how other people may just be living their best life.

Excellent book, idiosyncratic narrator

It’s an excellent book. The narrator had a few too many distracting mispronunciations (dropping the “L” in “wolf” or “werewolf”, and most irritatingly, pronouncing “experiment” like “experience” or “spearmint”). Once is odd, 20 times is a sin (where was the proofer/editor?!?)

A solid introduction

Most of this book is solid, it is a solid resource to get an overview and find more in-depth researchers. It has a fairly US centric bent and the final chapter and conclusions are a bit simplistic and preachy.

NOTE: No one in the games industry or around it says MMORPG as “more-peg,” whoever told the author they do was pulling their leg.

Nothing New

What disappointed you about The Storytelling Animal?

It was a rehash or compilation of a common understanding of narrative

What could Jonathan Gottschall have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

explored ideas instead of just regurgitating summaries of what was already known

What three words best describe Kris Koscheski’s performance?

Upbeat but monotonous

Warning

Only read it if you are stable and have a plan of your future. And consult with a terapist. Good information if you able to take it.

Pretty good

Pretty good. Coalesces a number of fairly familiar ideas into insightful arguments and anecdotes .
As a writer I feel like this book gave breadth to the dimension of which I understand narrative.

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.

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.

Mostly banalities

If you're minimally informed about psychology there's isn't much in this book. I didn't find it interesting and I don't much recommend it.

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.

Superb

Great theories - a broader and more understandable way of explain what Alistair Campbell was trying to get at

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.

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.

Disappointing

Stating the obvious, all held together by redundancy. Didn’t like the narrators voice either. Into the Woods is far superior.

A long Ted talk

Not insightful beyond the basics of storytelling, completely misses some long established and interesting explorations of storytelling, it's predictions were long expected since the mid-90's A waste of time and energy, beyond getting a basic idea of story.

good

good summary of the literature.. .. . . . ' ' ' ' ' .