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Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story
Like Stephen Krashen's important work in The Power of Reading , Story Proof collects and analyzes the research that validates the importance of story, story reading, and storytelling to the brain development and education of children and adults. Accomplished researcher and storyteller Kendall Haven, establishes the need for understanding the research findings in neural psychology and brain development and the value of a common definition of story if one is to fully grasp the importance and necessity of story to the development of the human mind. To support his case, he reviews a wealth of research from storytellers, teachers, and others who have experienced the power of story firsthand.
The author has collected anecdotal experiences from over 100 performing storytellers and from 1,800 story practitioners (mostly teachers) who have made extensive use of stories. He has read more than 150 qualitative and quantitative research studies that discuss the effectiveness of stories and/or storytelling for one or more specific applications (education, organizational management, knowledge management, medical and narrative therapy, etc.). Forty of these studies were literature reviews and comparative studies including analysis of over 1,000 studies and descriptive articles. He has also gathered research evidence from his own story performances for total audiences of over 4 million and from conducting story writing workshops with 200,000 students and 40,000 teachers.
The author has collected anecdotal experiences from over 100 performing storytellers and from 1,800 story practitioners (mostly teachers) who have made extensive use of stories. He has read more than 150 qualitative and quantitative research studies that discuss the effectiveness of stories and/or storytelling for one or more specific applications (education, organizational management, knowledge management, medical and narrative therapy, etc.). Forty of these studies were literature reviews and comparative studies including analysis of over 1,000 studies and descriptive articles. He has also gathered research evidence from his own story performances for total audiences of over 4 million and from conducting story writing workshops with 200,000 students and 40,000 teachers.
164 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 28, 2013
“Story Proof is a great book, deserving to be read by masses of people. . . ”
Tea time was over. I looked out the window of the common room down on Buccleuch Street. The sky, streets, and buildings of Edinburgh were gray again like the clouds. Then Simon spoke up, "Back to work boys!" One by one we stood up and shuffled for the door. As we headed out, I spoke to my professor. I had to get something off my chest. "Jim," I said, "I'm having a hard time. . . getting my head around the book you asked me to read."
I waited a bit anxiously for his response. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Well, reading a book sometimes is like hitting yourself over the head with a book." I laughed and promised that I would keep trying. The material was complex and new to me, but it also was dull and poorly written. Besides learning about communication theory, I was learning that some of the brightest academics in the world are bad writers.
Joseph Williams' great book, "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" tells us in clear and almost scientific terms what makes for bad writing and how we can improve it. The clear and graceful style tightly defined by Williams actually decreases stress placed on short-term memory, thus helping us parse sentences more easily. Any writer, especially academics, can benefit greatly from the sage advice of Joseph Williams.
But style, clarity, and grace may not be enough. What is missing? According to Kendall Haven, story is missing, and Haven's book, "Story Proof" convincingly demonstrates that story is the essential element of good writing. And this is not just for fiction. Haven claims that we can "storify" expository prose, arguments, and scientific discourse. And by so doing, we can make our writing more interesting and more memorable.
Unfortunately, the main problem with "Story Proof" is that it is not storified, so reading it may be a little bit like hitting yourself over your head. But to be fair, I’m sure that Haven intentionally did not storify “Story Proof,” and he says that we don’t need to storify all the information we present, but I’m just saying. . . perhaps the book could have benefited from more storification.
In spite of this problem, "Story Proof" rocks because story rocks, and Haven shows us why. He presents abundant research that shows we are hardwired to think in stories. Our brains are designed to make sense and remember information through stories.
Haven claims that the scientific proof for story is overwhelming and uncontested, and I think he is correct. But on my first reading, I felt sometimes lost in a mighty load of story proof that didn't seem to always fit into to long and coherent argument. Actually, it may, but either that argument needs more coherence, or I need to read it again and find it.
In spite of this whiny complaint, "Story Proof" is still a great book, and it deserves to be read by masses of people, academics (especially academics), but also school teachers, business people, and public speakers. The more people who read this book and apply its ideas, the the less we will hear snoring in classrooms and boardrooms, and the more people will remember and enjoy the information they hear.
For me, Kendall Haven's biggest contribution is his rigorous definition of story. He delineates 8 elements of story, and claims that when we vary these elements when presenting information, we can predict differential recall and understanding in our listeners. Haven’s definition of story is a good one, and it fits with definitions given by other authors such as Jonathan Gottschall who in “The Storytelling Animal” defines story as “Character + Predicament + Attempted Extrication.”
Here are Haven’s eight essential elements of story. A good story has (1) a main character, who has (2) character traits, that make her compelling. The character (3) acts to reach a goal and (4) possesses a motive for why that goal is important. As the character acts to reach that goal, she faces (5) conflicts and problems that block her, and these conflicts and problems create (6) risks and dangers. As she acts to overcome conflicts, problems, risks, and dangers, she (7) struggles to reach her goal, and all this happens in the context of (8) sensory details that make the story feel real.
Other traits could be added to this definition. For example, we could make a distinction between the internal and external conflicts that a character faces in great stories, and we could talk about the main character’s fatal flaw, which she must overcome in order to reach her goal. For example, in the near perfect film “Flight” directed by Robert Zemeckis, the main character, “Whip,” has serious personal internal conflicts and flaws that he must overcome, and these internal issues hook viewers making us root for Whip.
But despite these issues, “Story Proof” is an invaluable book, and it is unique in that perhaps more than any other book in the world, it subsumes a vast amount of research related to the power of story. It’s reference list alone is a valuable resource, (which could be improved if page numbers were given with the quotations). But for anyone interested in the power of story, for anyone wanting to improve their own story-telling, and for any scholar who wants to research the power of story, “Story Proof” is an outstanding resource.
Tea time was over. I looked out the window of the common room down on Buccleuch Street. The sky, streets, and buildings of Edinburgh were gray again like the clouds. Then Simon spoke up, "Back to work boys!" One by one we stood up and shuffled for the door. As we headed out, I spoke to my professor. I had to get something off my chest. "Jim," I said, "I'm having a hard time. . . getting my head around the book you asked me to read."
I waited a bit anxiously for his response. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Well, reading a book sometimes is like hitting yourself over the head with a book." I laughed and promised that I would keep trying. The material was complex and new to me, but it also was dull and poorly written. Besides learning about communication theory, I was learning that some of the brightest academics in the world are bad writers.
Joseph Williams' great book, "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" tells us in clear and almost scientific terms what makes for bad writing and how we can improve it. The clear and graceful style tightly defined by Williams actually decreases stress placed on short-term memory, thus helping us parse sentences more easily. Any writer, especially academics, can benefit greatly from the sage advice of Joseph Williams.
But style, clarity, and grace may not be enough. What is missing? According to Kendall Haven, story is missing, and Haven's book, "Story Proof" convincingly demonstrates that story is the essential element of good writing. And this is not just for fiction. Haven claims that we can "storify" expository prose, arguments, and scientific discourse. And by so doing, we can make our writing more interesting and more memorable.
Unfortunately, the main problem with "Story Proof" is that it is not storified, so reading it may be a little bit like hitting yourself over your head. But to be fair, I’m sure that Haven intentionally did not storify “Story Proof,” and he says that we don’t need to storify all the information we present, but I’m just saying. . . perhaps the book could have benefited from more storification.
In spite of this problem, "Story Proof" rocks because story rocks, and Haven shows us why. He presents abundant research that shows we are hardwired to think in stories. Our brains are designed to make sense and remember information through stories.
Haven claims that the scientific proof for story is overwhelming and uncontested, and I think he is correct. But on my first reading, I felt sometimes lost in a mighty load of story proof that didn't seem to always fit into to long and coherent argument. Actually, it may, but either that argument needs more coherence, or I need to read it again and find it.
In spite of this whiny complaint, "Story Proof" is still a great book, and it deserves to be read by masses of people, academics (especially academics), but also school teachers, business people, and public speakers. The more people who read this book and apply its ideas, the the less we will hear snoring in classrooms and boardrooms, and the more people will remember and enjoy the information they hear.
For me, Kendall Haven's biggest contribution is his rigorous definition of story. He delineates 8 elements of story, and claims that when we vary these elements when presenting information, we can predict differential recall and understanding in our listeners. Haven’s definition of story is a good one, and it fits with definitions given by other authors such as Jonathan Gottschall who in “The Storytelling Animal” defines story as “Character + Predicament + Attempted Extrication.”
Here are Haven’s eight essential elements of story. A good story has (1) a main character, who has (2) character traits, that make her compelling. The character (3) acts to reach a goal and (4) possesses a motive for why that goal is important. As the character acts to reach that goal, she faces (5) conflicts and problems that block her, and these conflicts and problems create (6) risks and dangers. As she acts to overcome conflicts, problems, risks, and dangers, she (7) struggles to reach her goal, and all this happens in the context of (8) sensory details that make the story feel real.
Other traits could be added to this definition. For example, we could make a distinction between the internal and external conflicts that a character faces in great stories, and we could talk about the main character’s fatal flaw, which she must overcome in order to reach her goal. For example, in the near perfect film “Flight” directed by Robert Zemeckis, the main character, “Whip,” has serious personal internal conflicts and flaws that he must overcome, and these internal issues hook viewers making us root for Whip.
But despite these issues, “Story Proof” is an invaluable book, and it is unique in that perhaps more than any other book in the world, it subsumes a vast amount of research related to the power of story. It’s reference list alone is a valuable resource, (which could be improved if page numbers were given with the quotations). But for anyone interested in the power of story, for anyone wanting to improve their own story-telling, and for any scholar who wants to research the power of story, “Story Proof” is an outstanding resource.
Read
April 25, 2013Great discussion about something dear to my heart - the power of stories for learning. Haven methodically demonstrates (and explains the research) how almost any topic can be made memorable through storytelling. I believe in this so much that my entire Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction (1991) was based on using storytelling as a method of teaching. I offer a workshop these days that teaches preschool teachers how to bring stories into every day activities for young children, but for years I have been a storyteller for older children and adults. This book is very useful for those of us who want to cite research and evidence.
June 7, 2018
I'm already a firm believer in power of stories to teach. However, the writing isn't as tight as it could be. For example, in the chapter titled "What is a story?", you don't find out the author's definition until the very end of the chapter. Also, there is some sloppy editing. I had to chuckle a little as Noam Chomsky is credited as "Chompsky". I was imagining Chomsky with a Pacman head. Anyway, there are a lot of citations for studies focusing on the use of stories for education, so this could be a good starting place for someone interested in the field.
July 11, 2022
I wasn’t as invested with this as I was with Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence.
That isn’t to say this was outright awful. It just read like your typical textbook. There were parts I thought it should have focused on more and others that should have had less focus.
That isn’t to say this was outright awful. It just read like your typical textbook. There were parts I thought it should have focused on more and others that should have had less focus.
December 31, 2023
I found the book as a big book for the storytellers. It's very well researched in multidisciplinary way and completely backed up from scientific studies to make the argument of storytelling as a more grounded and rigorous throughout the history of Human beings.
December 15, 2021
Easily the most important book I've read in decades. I keep delaying a proper review to say how absolutely fantastic it is, so here's the gist: stories are so deeply ingrained in our mind that overrule everything else. If you hit the key ingredients of a good story (and they books explains what that is) you have the most chances to convey what you want to the reader/listener bypassing everything else. Even truth. Moreover, everything can be told in story form. I wish stories weren't so powerful to our mids, but they are. This book is also full of literature reviews for the scientific sources.
April 9, 2013
So many tedious rhetorical questions. So many pointless words. So many cutesy and meaningless headings! I thought this book was going to harness the power of storytelling to teach the science-averse such as myself all about "the science behind the startling power of story." Instead it was a rambling disorganized snooze-fest, and I was all like, "skip to the end?" Where's Mary Roach when you need her? (Rhetorical question! Takes one to know one.)
Optional recommended text for an excellent storytelling course in my library science program. Good thing I was too busy to crack it open until the course ended or it might have soured the experience.
Optional recommended text for an excellent storytelling course in my library science program. Good thing I was too busy to crack it open until the course ended or it might have soured the experience.
April 25, 2018
Fantastic collection of evidence to support how stories are hardwired into us to be the best way to learn, remember, get motivated, relate to a situation, understand an issue, etc.
The evidence is overwhelming, the proof is definitely provided. A few steps are given for how to proceed, but mysteriously, so few examples! So few actual stories! The evidence often refers to examples, like the "Zambia story" that supposedly made a huge difference in the management of a company... but what was the story? Discussion on how storifying academic or technical writing improves understanding and outreach, but zero examples.
I think this was the wrong book for; I already believe in the power of story, have been convinced by a few excellent speakers and teachers who build their concepts with story mortar. I didn't need to be convinced on how it works; I wanted to see how to make it work for me when I teach.
Some really good quotable stuff here and there though. I liked this one: "Science strives to define universalities of the world that are context independent. Stories strive to create universality through context dependent situations." The two are neither mutually exclusive nor incompatible. Instead, they act as complement each other, creating a powerful and effective whole.
The evidence is overwhelming, the proof is definitely provided. A few steps are given for how to proceed, but mysteriously, so few examples! So few actual stories! The evidence often refers to examples, like the "Zambia story" that supposedly made a huge difference in the management of a company... but what was the story? Discussion on how storifying academic or technical writing improves understanding and outreach, but zero examples.
I think this was the wrong book for; I already believe in the power of story, have been convinced by a few excellent speakers and teachers who build their concepts with story mortar. I didn't need to be convinced on how it works; I wanted to see how to make it work for me when I teach.
Some really good quotable stuff here and there though. I liked this one: "Science strives to define universalities of the world that are context independent. Stories strive to create universality through context dependent situations." The two are neither mutually exclusive nor incompatible. Instead, they act as complement each other, creating a powerful and effective whole.
June 13, 2020
Story is not the information. Story is a way of structuring information
Intent is made up of goal (what a character wants) and motive (why the goal is important to them)
The more carefully you deliver the core information a receiving mind needs, the less creative work that mind is forced to do, and the more likely it is that your actual messages are received, considered, and remembered
Conflict is energy. It is tension. Conflict is the engine
You will always believe the expression and discount the words
This is interesting because it violates your expectations
Emotional information triggers memory
Good stories are coherent, organized, meaningful, and compelling
These then are the informational elements that uniquely define a story: Character, Intent, Action, Struggle, Details
Intent is made up of goal (what a character wants) and motive (why the goal is important to them)
The more carefully you deliver the core information a receiving mind needs, the less creative work that mind is forced to do, and the more likely it is that your actual messages are received, considered, and remembered
Conflict is energy. It is tension. Conflict is the engine
You will always believe the expression and discount the words
This is interesting because it violates your expectations
Emotional information triggers memory
Good stories are coherent, organized, meaningful, and compelling
These then are the informational elements that uniquely define a story: Character, Intent, Action, Struggle, Details
December 31, 2024
From 2007, this book collects, in clear and straightforward prose, the research and arguments for thinking about story as one of the fundamental ways we humans assemble meaning and make sense out of a chaotic existence. Specifically, Haven carefully builds the argument for why and how teachers at all levels of instruction need to use stories to increase retention and understanding.
March 26, 2021
It's a great book if you want to learn more about storytelling, the science behind story and why storytelling is so important.
I loved the book because I understood more about the science behind the story.
I loved the book because I understood more about the science behind the story.
February 5, 2020
A great book presentng the importance and influence of stories for human comprehension, learning and sharing of key messages.
May 19, 2020
Absolutely mind blowing. Heavily researched. Very well written. Without prior knowledge of the material, you might struggle at first, but hang in there. It'll be well worth it.
May 19, 2020
Very interesting but a little rambley at times
Read
May 10, 2021Ppp
September 5, 2020
Haven, a prolific storyteller and writer about storytelling, has undertaken a truly Herculean and laudable task: collecting, collating and analysing all the science to date (2007) on storytelling. The collecting was certainly successful. As Haven (quite boastfully) claims, he read about 100.000 pages of scientific literature that had some bearing on storytelling.
Unfortunately this resulted in a dry-bones book full of mediocre science. Haven starts in his first six chapters with an unforgivable piece of circular reasoning. He claims to go and prove the effectiveness of stories and then defines stories as the kind of narrative that is effective. The premise is the proof. That is very bad science.
In the next three chapters he presents the scientific background for his conclusions. This suffers from two major flaws: first of all simply quoting endless lists of conclusions from scientific papers, books and articles is not proof. Haven withholds the actual science and we’ll simply have to believe him and the authors he quotes that storytelling is effective for virtually anything, except maybe curing the common cold.
The second problem is Haven’s extreme confirmation bias. Quotes are taken out of context and seem to confirm time and time again that narratives about characters who struggle to reach goals are effective stories. I’ve read some of the same books (Caine 1994, for instance) and they are not about storytelling, but only mention it in passing as one of the many ways to look at their respective subjects. Besides, many other, very good books (Robert McKee’s Story is one, Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces another) could have taught Haven that, although character is important, plot is as well (and possibly more so). Again: biased science is bad science.
The overall problem of this book is its lack of true organisation. Haven enumerates, but doesn’t analyse. He lumps things together that are actually very different and separates things that belong together. He doesn’t really grasp this material, so simply sums up other people’s conclusions, without connecting these together and making them true ly meaningful and useful. His own conclusions (“what does this mean for us?”) are eclectic and incomplete.
Lastly, the book suffers from endless repetition of the same points over and over again in different contexts. He regularly gives a favourite quote twice and I think one quote even appears three times. This makes the book even more tedious. How a storyteller can write such a boring book, escapes me. Especially his Super Simple Storytelling (2000) is a very useful and well written guide to classroom storytelling. In Story Proof he seems to be a little out of his depth. (As a side note: Haven should really start looking for a book designer, because they’re all very ugly...)
His boasting about how he read this many books, taught workshops to that many students in a huge lot of states, collected enormous amounts of anecdotal data, and had many other successes annoys me as do all the cute titles (“look, I’m a storyteller, I can make up seven wild-west related titles! Look how clever I am: I found seven of this and eleven of that and I call that the 7-11 rule. Neat, huh!”) Sometimes he is the main character of this book.
Still, three stars because of the incredible effort, because of the several very beautiful and shiny pearls hidden within the mud that is this book and because it is the only book I know of that at least tries to collect all the available story science.
Unfortunately this resulted in a dry-bones book full of mediocre science. Haven starts in his first six chapters with an unforgivable piece of circular reasoning. He claims to go and prove the effectiveness of stories and then defines stories as the kind of narrative that is effective. The premise is the proof. That is very bad science.
In the next three chapters he presents the scientific background for his conclusions. This suffers from two major flaws: first of all simply quoting endless lists of conclusions from scientific papers, books and articles is not proof. Haven withholds the actual science and we’ll simply have to believe him and the authors he quotes that storytelling is effective for virtually anything, except maybe curing the common cold.
The second problem is Haven’s extreme confirmation bias. Quotes are taken out of context and seem to confirm time and time again that narratives about characters who struggle to reach goals are effective stories. I’ve read some of the same books (Caine 1994, for instance) and they are not about storytelling, but only mention it in passing as one of the many ways to look at their respective subjects. Besides, many other, very good books (Robert McKee’s Story is one, Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces another) could have taught Haven that, although character is important, plot is as well (and possibly more so). Again: biased science is bad science.
The overall problem of this book is its lack of true organisation. Haven enumerates, but doesn’t analyse. He lumps things together that are actually very different and separates things that belong together. He doesn’t really grasp this material, so simply sums up other people’s conclusions, without connecting these together and making them true ly meaningful and useful. His own conclusions (“what does this mean for us?”) are eclectic and incomplete.
Lastly, the book suffers from endless repetition of the same points over and over again in different contexts. He regularly gives a favourite quote twice and I think one quote even appears three times. This makes the book even more tedious. How a storyteller can write such a boring book, escapes me. Especially his Super Simple Storytelling (2000) is a very useful and well written guide to classroom storytelling. In Story Proof he seems to be a little out of his depth. (As a side note: Haven should really start looking for a book designer, because they’re all very ugly...)
His boasting about how he read this many books, taught workshops to that many students in a huge lot of states, collected enormous amounts of anecdotal data, and had many other successes annoys me as do all the cute titles (“look, I’m a storyteller, I can make up seven wild-west related titles! Look how clever I am: I found seven of this and eleven of that and I call that the 7-11 rule. Neat, huh!”) Sometimes he is the main character of this book.
Still, three stars because of the incredible effort, because of the several very beautiful and shiny pearls hidden within the mud that is this book and because it is the only book I know of that at least tries to collect all the available story science.
March 28, 2012
This was a required text for my Storytelling class, and I have to say, it wasn't a favorite by any means. I found parts of this to be awfully dry in places, particularly chapter nine when the author is relating the findings of all these different studies, and terribly technical when he's talking about how the brain processes stories. I also felt like the purpose of this book was kind of a "preaching to the choir" for me personally, because I obviously feel storytelling and stories are important, or I would a) be working with kids b) want to be a Youth Services librarian or c) be taking this course. I feel like the general gist of this book could have been achieved for the purpose of this class by simply reading some articles.
That being said, here's what the author was trying to get across: stories have the power to catch your attention and draw you in. They are easier to comprehend than other types of nonfiction/technical writing, and by exposing children to stories, you're setting them up for an easier time of it in school when it comes time for them to start writing. Stories even translate to higher math/science skills. So, in a nutshell, here's a one line sentence to sum up this book: Read to your kids!
That being said, here's what the author was trying to get across: stories have the power to catch your attention and draw you in. They are easier to comprehend than other types of nonfiction/technical writing, and by exposing children to stories, you're setting them up for an easier time of it in school when it comes time for them to start writing. Stories even translate to higher math/science skills. So, in a nutshell, here's a one line sentence to sum up this book: Read to your kids!
March 26, 2013
Grumble grumble growl growl growl...
Did I just read a story? Honestly I'm not sure. Between Haven's definition of story and STORY and his choice of third person narrative spontaneously turning into maddening personal pronouns I can honestly say I am not sure what I have just read.
How frustrating to read a book billed a piece of textual information only to find it filled with a synopsis of other people's works and definitions. Part two gets slightly better, however, still not originally insightful or enjoyable.
Perhaps this review is disappointing as a story of my experience after all I have not clearly defined my five elements (Character, Intent, Actions, Struggles, and Details) however it is mine and this was all the time I deemed worthy.
Did I just read a story? Honestly I'm not sure. Between Haven's definition of story and STORY and his choice of third person narrative spontaneously turning into maddening personal pronouns I can honestly say I am not sure what I have just read.
How frustrating to read a book billed a piece of textual information only to find it filled with a synopsis of other people's works and definitions. Part two gets slightly better, however, still not originally insightful or enjoyable.
Perhaps this review is disappointing as a story of my experience after all I have not clearly defined my five elements (Character, Intent, Actions, Struggles, and Details) however it is mine and this was all the time I deemed worthy.
June 1, 2008
My interest in education kept me reading this book, and I look forward to see if I can use the concepts outlined when I present mathematics research or teach.
The author develops his idea of what a story is, and then provides anecdotes and outside research to support why he feels knowing story structure is an important tool for communicating effectively.
While reading the book, it was interesting realizing how I've been influenced by good story tellers.
The author develops his idea of what a story is, and then provides anecdotes and outside research to support why he feels knowing story structure is an important tool for communicating effectively.
While reading the book, it was interesting realizing how I've been influenced by good story tellers.
May 4, 2009
The first half of the book sought to define the term, and the other half provided evidence for the effectiveness of story. It is a very well researched book that describes how the mind works and how to best take advantage of it.
I learned:
To teach most effectively you must find an appropriate story to answer questions.
Actions have no meaning without goals and motives.
Human memory circuits don't distinguish between real and false memories.
I learned:
To teach most effectively you must find an appropriate story to answer questions.
Actions have no meaning without goals and motives.
Human memory circuits don't distinguish between real and false memories.
December 18, 2011
For those interested in the research behind the power of story, this book is a must-read. Kendall covers many research studies to build his argument that we think in story, and, therefore, using story format and story TELLING are the most direct routes to conveying information that is remembered (i.e., "sticky") and internalized. A thorough, though not completely exhaustive, walk through the various reasons stories "work."
January 1, 2015
My PhD thesis explored narrative understanding as the primary meaning making tool and it was good re revisit a lot of the research I used. It also to get a much wider range of research in different disciplines that confirm the centrality of narrative in our meaning making and it's power to engage and inspire. A very useful reference list to follow up. Have already bought s number of the books he recommends. It is good to read the research made accessible to the lay person. An achievement.
May 2, 2013
As the book sets out to "prove" the impact of stories on a (neuro-)scientific basis, it can get a bit dense, but those who persist will find a treasure trove of insights in the ways stories are part of the way we think en understand life. In this it shows that the author has spent "a lot" of time researching the topic.
March 9, 2010
A book that has forever changed the way I look at life and how I interpret events. A great read.
August 12, 2012
This was an amazing expose of the science behind the power of stories and storytelling for learning and memory.
Finally some scientific proof that story rules the world!
Finally some scientific proof that story rules the world!
March 25, 2013
Makes a very good argument for the using stories in your everyday life, but I wish they could have been a little less thoroughly thorough.
February 27, 2016
Really interesting, useful ideas for the aspiring storyteller to explain what the craft is about. That said, I found myself losing focus and skimming fairly often due to the dense writing style.
August 23, 2016
Easy to understand and convincing. Not to long!
October 23, 2016
Interesting concept, for sure, but it beat a dead horse. I get it, story is powerful.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews