The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Jonathan Gottschall: Student of stories.
• Abby Gottschall: Daughter to Jonathan.
• Annabel Gottschall: Daughter to Jonathan.
• Emma Bovary: Character from "Madame Bovary"
• Adolf Hitler: Inspired by art, according to lore.
• Amy Plowman: Zoologist heading the Plymouth University study.
• Jiro Tanaka: literary scholar
• Chuck Wick: Country singer.
• Cormac Mccarthy: Writer
• Nathaniel Philbrick: Writer
• Zimri Coffin: Captain of the Daupin from "In the Heart of the Sea"
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Believes enjoying a story requires the willing suspension of disbelief.
• Lise Bolkonskaya: Character from War and Peace.
• Daniel Levitin: Musicologist and neuroscientist who estimates we hear about five hours of music each day.
• Vince McMahon: CEO of WWE
• Janet Malcolm: Writer for the New Yorker.
• Brad Leventhal: Attorney.
• Daniel Malakov: Add a description of this character.
• Brian Boyd: Evolutionary literary scholar.
• John Kessel: Writer of "The Invaders"
• Brian Sutton-smith: Play scholar.
• Vivian Paley: Teacher.
• Dorothy Singer: Psychologist
• Jerome Singer: Psychologist.
• Lily: A three-year-old girl in the supermarket.
• Aristotle
• Elmore Leonard: Crime novelist
• Charles Baxter
• Janet Burroway: Author of "Writing Fiction".
• James Joyce: Writer
• Gertrude Stein
• Noam Chomsky: Linguist
• Steven Pinker: Evolutionist.
• Keith Oatley: Psychologist and novelist.
• Byron Reeves: Computer scientist
• Clifford Nass: Computer scientist
• Anne Krendl: Scientist in charge of Dartmouth study that noticed viewers' brains experiencing the emotions they saw on screen.
• Mbemba Jabbi: Researcher who tested emotions using an fMRI scanner.
• Don Quixote
• John Gardner: Novelist
• Frederick Crew
• Dr. Sigmund Freud: Psychologist.
• Sergei Pankeev: Patient of Freud's. Known as the "Wolf Man"
• J. Allan Hobson: Dream scholar.
• Owen Flanagan: Dreamresearcher.
• Antti Revonsuo: Dream researcher.
• Michel Jouvet: Dream scientist who studied animal dreams.
• Michael Franklin: Psychologist
• Michael Zyphur: Psychologist.
• Joel Fajans: Berkely physicist
• Harry Hunt
• Bill the King: Creation of James Tilly Matthew's
• Jack the Schoolmaster: Creation of James Tilly Matthew's
• Sir Archy: Creation of James Tilly Matthew's
• The Glove Woman: Creation of James Tilly Matthew's
• James Tilly Matthews: Lunatic who created a fictional world.
• John Haslam: Doctor of James Tilly Matthews.
• John Dryden: Poet
• Kay Redfield Jamison: Bipolar psychologist.
• Daniel Nettle: Psychologist.
• Arnold Ludwig: Psychiatrist.
• Stephen King: Writer.
• Joseph Bogen: Neurosurgeon who split the brain in two.
• Michael Gazzaniga: Brain researcher.
• Sherlock Holmes
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Writer.
• James Wallis: Video game designer.
• Fritz Heider: psychologist
• Marianne Simmel: psychologist.
• Lev Kuleshov: Russian filmmaker.
• Oliver Sacks
• Norman Maier: Researcher.
• Alex Jones: Conspiracy theorist.
• Daniel Dennett: Evolutionist
• Richard Dawkins: Evolutionist
• David Sloan Wilson: Author of "Darwin's Cathedral"
• Emile Durkheim: Sociologist
• Gustav Jager: German evolutionist
• Howard Zinn: Revisionist historian
• James Loewen: Revisionist historian
• Tom: A twenty-two year old man in a May/December affair.
• Sarah: A forty-five year old woman in a May/December affair.
• Jonathan Haidt: Psychologist who studied moral logic.
• Heliogabalus: Roman emperor
• Plato
• Samuel Richardson: Author of "Pamela"
• William Flesch: Literacy scholar and author of Comeuppance.
• Jerome Bruner: psychologist.
• Jemeljan Hakemulder: Dutch literary scholar
• Markus Appel: Psychologist who studied tv and morality.
• August Kubizek: Friend and biographer of Adolf Hitler.
• Richard Wagner: Composer
• Eliza Harris: Fictional slave
• Arthur Shelby: Eliza's owner.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe: Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
• Melanie Green: Psychologist
• Timothy Brock: Psychologist
• Frederic Spotts: Writer
• David Carr: Memoirist
• Donald: Friend to David Carr.
• James Frey: Wrote fake memoir
• Ben Yagoda: Writer
• Marie G.: A young woman who had a false memory of a rape planted in her mind.
• Roger Brown: Psychologist who coined "flash-bulb memories"
• James Kulik: Psychologist who coined "flash-bulb memories"
• Lauren French: Psychologist.
• Hippolyte Bernheim: Psychiatrist who studied memory.
• Elizabeth Loftus: Psychologoist
• Thomas Gilovich: Writer
• Cordelia Fine: Psychologist who believes self knowledge to be farce.
• Michele Crossley: Pyschologist.
• Tom Bissell: Novelist.
• Ethan: A LARPer
• Edward Castronova: economist

Quotes edit see section history

• “Human life is so bound up in stories that we are thoroughly desensitized to their weird and witchy power.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• England
• Neverland: A world of creativity.
• New York
• Bethlem Hospital: Hospital in England.
• Paris, France
• Columbus
• America

Organizations edit see section history

• Plymouth University: English university that tested the "infinite monkey" theory.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: States the average American reads about twenty minutes a day.
• Practical People: A theoretical tribe in which downtime is spent only resting.
• Story People: A theoretical tribe in which downtime is spent telling stories.
• MacArthur Foundation: Add a description of this organization.
• University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
• Dartmouth College
• University of Michigan
• Air Loom Gang: Creation of James Tilly Matthew's
• Independent Film Channel (IFC)
• New World Order
• Nazis

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Infinte Monkey Theory: Concept that monkeys in a room with typewriters could in a matter of time compose a certain work of literature.
• New Journalism: Journalism using storytelling techniques.
• Hyperrealism: Move in literature to remove plot.
• Mirror Neurons: Describe this term.
• Random Activation Theory (RAT): Dream theory based on the idea that dreams are simply leftovers as the brain works during the night.
• Corpus Callosum: connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
• Sherlock Holmes Syndrome: Tendency to create complex stories based on little evidence.
• Korsakoff's Syndrome: Occurs in amnesiacs who constantly forget who they are and reinvent new identities for themselves.
• Cotard's Syndrome: Maintain explanations for why they appear to be alive when they are dead.
• Lake Wobegon effect: The feeling of being above average on positive qualities.
• Live Action Role Playing (LARP)
• Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMPORG)

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• The Importance of Storytelling: Describe this theme.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jonathan Gottschall (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Finalist, 2012: Science and Technology, Shortlist)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 576

Notes for Parents edit see section history

The interest is geared toward adults. Book also has language and sexuality in it.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Books & Reading › Literacy
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Research

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history