The Storytelling Animal

Jonathan Gottschall argues that humans are storytelling animals and sets out what he offers as the first unified theory of storytelling. Stories, in his account, let people rehearse complex social problems the way flight simulators prepare pilots, and the habit evolved because it helped our survival. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology and evolutionary biology, he reports that deeper absorption in a story changes behavior more, that children in slums and suburbs alike act out the same kinds of stories, and that heavy readers of fiction show more empathy. Gottschall also examines the darker side of the story instinct, from conspiracy theories and advertising to national myths, while holding that most successful stories are moral and bind people around shared values.

Bill Gurley called it an amazing book in his Above the Crowd essay In Defense of the Deck, and Park Howell, founder of The Business of Story, lists it among the books he recommends to people seeking a career in advertising.