The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

This was a…nice book. I don’t think it was very ambitious, but it basically just explains why humans love stories. It does this from a few different angles: dreams, games, rationalizing, etc.

I can’t really say that I learned a lot from this book. In large part, it was just kind of a confirmation and elucidation of what I knew intuitively. It’s well-written and it’s interesting and I enjoyed reading it.

But it’s not a very…challenging book. There wasn’t a lot of chew on or disagree with here.

I’m not criticizing it for that. Some books are just… nice? Some books just let you enjoy an idea without trying very hard to disrupt it or reframe your world view.

This is one of those books.

Book Info

Author

Jonathan Gottschall

Year

2012

Pages

248

Acquired

July 19, 2025

• I have read this book. According to my records, I completed it on April 25, 2026.
• A hardcover copy of this book is currently in my home library.