About the book
Over a series of conversations with journalist Bill Moyers, the scholar Joseph Campbell explains how the themes and symbols of ancient stories still give meaning to birth, death, love and war. The talks move from modern marriage and virgin births to Jesus and John Lennon, and from the gods of ancient Greece and Rome to Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, building a case for shared human experience across cultures and eras. Campbell, who called mythology the song of the universe, influenced Star Wars creator George Lucas among many others. The book set off a fresh wave of interest in Campbell and his work.
Naval Ravikant said he was rereading it, since rereading the greats beats reading lesser books, and Bryan Callen credited Campbell with first opening his eyes to the compassionate side of life.
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This book has 4 recommendations
Bryan Callen (Co-Host/The Fighter and the Kid)
Joseph Campbell was the first person to really open my eyes to [the] compassionate side of life, or of thought... Campbell was the guy who really kind of put it all together for me, and not in a way I could put my finger on... It made you just glad to be alive, [realizing] how vast this world is, and how similar and how different we are.
Ashley Hathaway (Enterprise Product Manager)
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell has got to be at least one of my all-time favorites. I reference it constantly. If you’re not familiar the book is just a conversation between the journalist Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, who worked in comparative mythology and religious studies. It so beautifully brings every human experience together from the beginning of time. The world is basically explained through archetypes of people and the stories we tell. I highly recommend it and re-read parts regularly.
Naval Ravikant (CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList)
I’m rereading The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. Sometimes I think it’s better to just to reread the greats than it is to read something that’s not as great.
Recommended by Park Howell (Founder/The Business of Story)
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Often recommended alongside
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (2 shared recommenders)
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (2 shared recommenders)