-
Wonderworks
- The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $22.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
This “fascinating” (Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times best-selling author of Outliers) examination of literary inventions through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, shows how writers have created technical breakthroughs - rivaling scientific inventions - and engineering enhancements to the human heart and mind.
Literature is a technology like any other. And the writers we revere - from Homer, Shakespeare, Austen, and others - each made a unique technical breakthrough that can be viewed as both a narrative and neuroscientific advancement. Literature’s great invention was to address problems we could not solve: not how to start a fire or build a boat, but how to live and love; how to maintain courage in the face of death; how to account for the fact that we exist at all.
Wonderworks reviews the blueprints for twenty-five of the most significant developments in the history of literature. These inventions can be scientifically shown to alleviate grief, trauma, loneliness, anxiety, numbness, depression, pessimism, and ennui, while sparking creativity, courage, love, empathy, hope, joy, and positive change. They can be found throughout literature - from ancient Chinese lyrics to Shakespeare’s plays, poetry to nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and crime novels to slave narratives.
A “refreshing and remarkable” (Jay Parini, author of Borges and Me: An Encounter) exploration of the new literary field of story science, Wonderworks teaches you everything you wish you learned in your English class, and “contains many instances of critical insight.... What’s most interesting about this compendium is its understanding of imaginative representation as a technology” (The New York Times).
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story
- By: Angus Fletcher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Angus Fletcher
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you want to write your own scripts or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the great stories you see unfold on the screen, Professor Angus Fletcher is here to show you the way in Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story. Professor Fletcher, Professor of English and Film at The Ohio State University, brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to this craft. As a screenwriter himself, he has experienced the ins and outs of the process first-hand.
-
-
Screenwriting 101 - Angus Fletcher
- By Siobhan Sands on 04-14-18
By: Angus Fletcher, and others
-
The Science of Storytelling
- By: Will Storr
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do master storytellers compel us? There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story, but few have used a scientific approach. In The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can tell better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers - and also our brains - create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.
-
-
A great portal into human psychology
- By Stephanie Romer on 02-13-21
By: Will Storr
-
The Origins and History of Consciousness
- Bollingen Series
- By: Erich Neumann, R. F. C. Hull - translator, Carl Jung - foreword
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Origins and History of Consciousness draws on a full range of world mythology to show how individual consciousness undergoes the same archetypal stages of development as human consciousness as a whole. Erich Neumann was one of C. G. Jung's most creative students and a renowned practitioner of analytical psychology in his own right. In this influential book, Neumann shows how the stages begin and end with the symbol of the Uroboros, the tail-eating serpent.
-
-
My Boi JP was right
- By Anonymous User on 12-27-20
By: Erich Neumann, and others
-
The Deadline
- Essays
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few, if any, historians have brought such insight, wisdom, and empathy to public discourse as Jill Lepore. Arriving at The New Yorker in 2005, Lepore, with her panoptical range and razor-sharp style, brought a transporting freshness and a literary vivacity to everything from profiles of long-dead writers to urgent constitutional analysis to an unsparing scrutiny of the woeful affairs of the nation itself. The astonishing essays collected in The Deadline offer a prismatic portrait of Americans’ techno-utopianism, frantic fractiousness, and unprecedented—but armed—aimlessness.
-
-
Setting current problems on a historical and human context
- By Jeanette+Gavin on 11-13-23
By: Jill Lepore
-
A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century
- Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life
- By: Heather Heying, Bret Weinstein
- Narrated by: Heather Heying, Bret Weinstein
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are living through the most prosperous age in all of human history, yet we are listless, divided, and miserable. Wealth and comfort are unparalleled, but our political landscape is unmoored, and rates of suicide, loneliness, and chronic illness continue to skyrocket. How do we explain the gap between these truths? And how should we respond? For evolutionary biologists Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein, the cause of our troubles is clear: The accelerating rate of change in the modern world has outstripped the capacity of our brains and bodies to adapt.
-
-
Presents conjecture and bias as science
- By Reviewer on 09-16-21
By: Heather Heying, and others
-
Dedicated
- The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
- By: Pete Davis
- Narrated by: Pete Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us have had this experience: browsing through countless options on Netflix, unable to commit to watching any given movie—and losing so much time skimming reviews and considering trailers that it’s too late to watch anything at all. In a book inspired by an idea first articulated in a viral commencement address, Pete Davis argues that this is the defining characteristic of the moment: keeping our options open. In Dedicated, Davis examines this quagmire, as well as the counterculture of committers who have made it to the other side.
-
-
Almost too difficult to listen to
- By David Todd on 11-08-21
By: Pete Davis
-
Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story
- By: Angus Fletcher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Angus Fletcher
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you want to write your own scripts or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the great stories you see unfold on the screen, Professor Angus Fletcher is here to show you the way in Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story. Professor Fletcher, Professor of English and Film at The Ohio State University, brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to this craft. As a screenwriter himself, he has experienced the ins and outs of the process first-hand.
-
-
Screenwriting 101 - Angus Fletcher
- By Siobhan Sands on 04-14-18
By: Angus Fletcher, and others
-
The Science of Storytelling
- By: Will Storr
- Narrated by: James Clamp
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do master storytellers compel us? There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story, but few have used a scientific approach. In The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can tell better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers - and also our brains - create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.
-
-
A great portal into human psychology
- By Stephanie Romer on 02-13-21
By: Will Storr
-
The Origins and History of Consciousness
- Bollingen Series
- By: Erich Neumann, R. F. C. Hull - translator, Carl Jung - foreword
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Origins and History of Consciousness draws on a full range of world mythology to show how individual consciousness undergoes the same archetypal stages of development as human consciousness as a whole. Erich Neumann was one of C. G. Jung's most creative students and a renowned practitioner of analytical psychology in his own right. In this influential book, Neumann shows how the stages begin and end with the symbol of the Uroboros, the tail-eating serpent.
-
-
My Boi JP was right
- By Anonymous User on 12-27-20
By: Erich Neumann, and others
-
The Deadline
- Essays
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Jill Lepore
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few, if any, historians have brought such insight, wisdom, and empathy to public discourse as Jill Lepore. Arriving at The New Yorker in 2005, Lepore, with her panoptical range and razor-sharp style, brought a transporting freshness and a literary vivacity to everything from profiles of long-dead writers to urgent constitutional analysis to an unsparing scrutiny of the woeful affairs of the nation itself. The astonishing essays collected in The Deadline offer a prismatic portrait of Americans’ techno-utopianism, frantic fractiousness, and unprecedented—but armed—aimlessness.
-
-
Setting current problems on a historical and human context
- By Jeanette+Gavin on 11-13-23
By: Jill Lepore
-
A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century
- Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life
- By: Heather Heying, Bret Weinstein
- Narrated by: Heather Heying, Bret Weinstein
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are living through the most prosperous age in all of human history, yet we are listless, divided, and miserable. Wealth and comfort are unparalleled, but our political landscape is unmoored, and rates of suicide, loneliness, and chronic illness continue to skyrocket. How do we explain the gap between these truths? And how should we respond? For evolutionary biologists Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein, the cause of our troubles is clear: The accelerating rate of change in the modern world has outstripped the capacity of our brains and bodies to adapt.
-
-
Presents conjecture and bias as science
- By Reviewer on 09-16-21
By: Heather Heying, and others
-
Dedicated
- The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
- By: Pete Davis
- Narrated by: Pete Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us have had this experience: browsing through countless options on Netflix, unable to commit to watching any given movie—and losing so much time skimming reviews and considering trailers that it’s too late to watch anything at all. In a book inspired by an idea first articulated in a viral commencement address, Pete Davis argues that this is the defining characteristic of the moment: keeping our options open. In Dedicated, Davis examines this quagmire, as well as the counterculture of committers who have made it to the other side.
-
-
Almost too difficult to listen to
- By David Todd on 11-08-21
By: Pete Davis
-
Asian Journals
- India and Japan (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)
- By: Joseph Campbell
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his career, Joseph Campbell developed a lasting fascination with the cultures of the Far East, and explorations of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy later became recurring motifs in his vast body of work. However, Campbell had to wait until middle age to visit the lands that inspired him so deeply. In 1954, he took a sabbatical from his teaching position and embarked on a year-long voyage through India, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally Japan.
-
-
What a journey!
- By Anonymous User on 08-11-18
By: Joseph Campbell
-
Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
-
-
Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
-
Journey of the Mind
- How Thinking Emerged from Chaos
- By: Ogi Ogas, Sai Gaddam
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do minds exist? How did mud and stone develop into beings that can experience longing, regret, love, and compassion - beings that are aware of their own experience? Until recently, science offered few answers to these existential questions. Journey of the Mind is the first book to offer a unified account of the mind that explains how consciousness, language, the Self, and civilization emerged incrementally out of chaos.
-
-
Consciousness: objectively physical yet subjective
- By Jeffrey W. Rudisel on 04-16-22
By: Ogi Ogas, and others
-
Character
- The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following up his perennially best-selling writers' guide Story and his inspiring exploration of the art of verbal action in Dialogue, the most sought-after expert in the storytelling brings his insights to the creation of compelling characters and the design of their casts. Character explores the design of a character universe: The dimensionality, complexity and arcing of a protagonist, the invention of orbiting major characters, all encircled by a cast of service and supporting roles.
-
-
I question whether Robert wrote it
- By C. Deputy on 06-27-21
By: Robert McKee
-
The Master and His Emissary
- The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
- By: Iain McGilchrist
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain - the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the "rational" side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master.
-
-
The Master and His Emissary
- By Michael on 11-07-20
By: Iain McGilchrist
-
Dialogue
- The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Dialogue, Robert McKee offers in-depth analysis for how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways. From Macbeth to Breaking Bad, McKee deconstructs key scenes to illustrate the strategies and techniques of dialogue. Dialogue applies a framework of incisive thinking to instruct the prospective writer on how to craft artful, impactful speech.
-
-
Not suited for audio
- By Smith on 03-04-17
By: Robert McKee
-
The Perfectionists
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
-
-
Somewhat less than perfect
- By enya keshet on 06-19-18
By: Simon Winchester
-
Texas
- A Novel
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 64 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Texas: a land of sprawling diversity and unparalleled richness; a dazzling chapter in the history of our nation; a place like no other on Earth. Through the remarkable lives of four families, this epic saga spans four centuries and two continents and charts the dramatic formation of several great dynasties from the age of the conquistadors to the present day. A richly compelling novel of a proud people eager to meet the challenge of the land, Texas is James Michener's most magnificent achievement.
-
-
Great Story...but then there was the narration
- By Jim on 03-03-16
-
The Song of Significance
- A New Manifesto for Teams
- By: Seth Godin
- Narrated by: Seth Godin
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Song of Significance is a rousing contemplation on work: why it is the way it is, why it’s gotten so bad, what all of us–especially leaders–can do to make it better.
-
-
scattered and often incorrect
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-23
By: Seth Godin
-
Handbook of Emotions, Fourth Edition
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett - editor, Michael Lewis - editor, Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones - editor
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo, Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 51 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recognized as the definitive reference, this handbook brings together leading experts from multiple psychological subdisciplines to examine one of today's most dynamic areas of research. Coverage encompasses the biological and neuroscientific underpinnings of emotions, as well as developmental, social and personality, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. The volume probes how people understand, experience, express, and perceive affective phenomena and explores connections to behavior and health across the lifespan.
-
-
The primacy of sound
- By Amazon Customer on 07-21-23
By: Lisa Feldman Barrett - editor, and others
-
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Narrated by: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience.
-
-
slow reader & little bit of a Wokie
- By darren on 06-01-21
-
Action
- The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page, and Game
- By: Robert McKee, Bassim El-Wakil
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Action explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.
-
-
Even More of the Same
- By Eric Marecek on 07-24-24
By: Robert McKee, and others
Related to this topic
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
-
-
Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
-
The Art of the Novel
- By: Milan Kundera, Linda Asher - translator
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kundera brilliantly examines the work of such important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Musil. He is especially penetrating on Hermann Broch, and his exploration of the world of Kafka's novels vividly reveals the comic terror of Kafka's bureaucratized universe. Kundera's discussion of his own work includes his views on the role of historical events in fiction, the meaning of action, and the creation of character in the postpsychological novel.
-
-
Informative and Inspiring
- By Mo on 11-27-21
By: Milan Kundera, and others
-
Stories We Tell Ourselves
- Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
- By: Richard Holloway
- Narrated by: Richard Holloway
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all means: our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are.
-
-
Effortlessly profound
- By Consi on 09-28-21
By: Richard Holloway
-
The Story Paradox
- How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears Them Down
- By: Jonathan Gottschall
- Narrated by: Joshua Kane
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.
-
-
A bit of a mixed bag with some amazing discussion
- By Justin on 04-27-22
-
William Blake vs the World
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wild and unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy, and religion to better understand the mercurial genius of William Blake.
-
-
Best book ever
- By idamae on 11-04-22
By: John Higgs
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
-
-
Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
-
The Art of the Novel
- By: Milan Kundera, Linda Asher - translator
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kundera brilliantly examines the work of such important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Musil. He is especially penetrating on Hermann Broch, and his exploration of the world of Kafka's novels vividly reveals the comic terror of Kafka's bureaucratized universe. Kundera's discussion of his own work includes his views on the role of historical events in fiction, the meaning of action, and the creation of character in the postpsychological novel.
-
-
Informative and Inspiring
- By Mo on 11-27-21
By: Milan Kundera, and others
-
Stories We Tell Ourselves
- Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
- By: Richard Holloway
- Narrated by: Richard Holloway
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all means: our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are.
-
-
Effortlessly profound
- By Consi on 09-28-21
By: Richard Holloway
-
The Story Paradox
- How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears Them Down
- By: Jonathan Gottschall
- Narrated by: Joshua Kane
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.
-
-
A bit of a mixed bag with some amazing discussion
- By Justin on 04-27-22
-
William Blake vs the World
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wild and unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy, and religion to better understand the mercurial genius of William Blake.
-
-
Best book ever
- By idamae on 11-04-22
By: John Higgs
-
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis
- How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind
- By: Jason M Baxter
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
C. S. Lewis had one of the great minds of the 20th century. Many know Lewis as an author of fiction and fantasy literature, including the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy. Others know him for his books in apologetics, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. But few know him for his scholarly work as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature. What shaped the mind of this great thinker?
-
-
Excellent
- By andrew wilson smith on 03-08-22
By: Jason M Baxter
-
50 Spiritual Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This unabridged guide to the literature of the spirit surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications - everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
-
-
useful as review or starting point
- By connie on 01-03-09
-
Angels and Ages
- A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life
- By: Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Adam Gopnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written 200 years after Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln shared a birthday on February 12, 1809, this insightful account sheds new light on two men who changed the way we think about the meaning of life and death. Award-winning journalist Adam Gopnik's unique perspective, combined with previously unexplored stories and figures, reveals two men planted firmly at the roots of modern views and liberal values.
-
-
Connecting Darwin and Lincoln
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: Adam Gopnik
-
My Bright Abyss
- Meditation of a Modern Believer
- By: Christian Wiman
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven years ago, Christian Wiman, a well-known poet and the editor of Poetry magazine, wrote a now-famous essay about having faith in the face of death. My Bright Abyss, composed in the difficult years since and completed in the wake of a bone marrow transplant, is a moving meditation on what a viable contemporary faith - responsive not only to modern thought and science but also to religious tradition - might look like.
-
-
Meditative Poetry in Prose
- By Marianne Murphy Zarzana on 07-21-19
By: Christian Wiman
-
The Great Work of Your Life
- A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling
- By: Stephen Cope
- Narrated by: Kevin M. Connolly
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To know your true calling - your dharma, as the yogis say - is perhaps the greatest desire within each of us. And yet, few can say we know our purpose with absolute certainty. Fortunately, there is a time-tested guide - an ancient map - for discovering and fulfilling your unique calling. In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope walks you through each step of the journey.
-
-
Jungian Zen Psychoanalytical Retired Meditation Teacher
- By Glenn Guillory, SFO on 06-13-20
By: Stephen Cope
-
50 Self-Help Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This award-winning, unabridged guide to the "literature of possibility" surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications, everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
-
-
Surprisingly Interesting
- By Cathy Dopp on 10-15-06
-
The Fellowship
- The Literary LIves of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams
- By: Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 26 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
C. S. Lewis is the 20th century's most widely read Christian writer and J. R. R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met weekly in Lewis' Oxford rooms and a nearby pub. They read aloud from works in progress, argued about anything that caught their fancy, and gave one another invaluable companionship, inspiration, and criticism.
-
-
If You Love Literature...
- By Ray M on 07-14-16
By: Philip Zaleski, and others
-
Figuring
- By: Maria Popova
- Narrated by: Natascha McElhone
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Figuring explores the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries - beginning with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion, and ending with the marine biologist and author Rachel Carson, who catalyzed the environmental movement.
-
-
Stunning
- By Laura on 03-12-19
By: Maria Popova
-
Papyrus
- The Invention of Books in the Ancient World
- By: Irene Vallejo, Charlotte Whittle - translator
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand-copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Papyrus is the story of the book’s journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. Irene Vallejo evokes the great mosaic of literature in the ancient world, all the while illuminating how ancient ideas about education, censorship, authority, and identity still resonate today.
-
-
Great read
- By Hunter Pechin on 12-15-22
By: Irene Vallejo, and others
-
Origins of The Wheel of Time
- The Legends and Mythologies That Inspired Robert Jordan
- By: Michael Livingston, Harriet McDougal - contributor, Robert Jordan
- Narrated by: Harriet McDougal, Kate Reading, Michael Kramer, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Take a deep dive into the real-world history and mythology that inspired the world of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time®. This companion to the internationally bestselling series will delve into the creation of Jordan’s masterpiece, drawing from interviews and an unprecedented examination of his unpublished notes. Michael Livingston tells the behind-the-scenes story of who Jordan was, how he worked, and why he holds such an important place in modern literature. Origins of The Wheel of Time will provide exciting knowledge and insights to both new and longtime fans.
-
-
Agenda driven ideological bend.
- By Maxwell on 06-19-23
By: Michael Livingston, and others
-
The Forgotten Language
- An Introduction to the Understanding of Dreams, Fairy Tales, and Myths
- By: Erich Fromm
- Narrated by: Kevin Young
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this study, Fromm argues that man needs to analyze his unconscious thoughts, his dreams, and his conscious fantasies, as they reflect a universal and symbolic representation of himself.
-
-
Fromm at full steam
- By Paul on 02-15-16
By: Erich Fromm
-
How to Save the West
- Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises
- By: Spencer Klavan
- Narrated by: Spencer Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It has been proclaimed many times, but perhaps never more convincingly than now, when every news cycle seems to deliver further confirmation of a world gone mad. Is this the endgame? Author Spencer Klavan is a classicist, with a Ph.D. from Oxford, and a deep understanding of the West. His analysis: The situation is dire. But every crisis we face today, we have faced before. And we can surmount each one. Klavan brings to the West’s defense the insights of Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and the Founding Fathers to show that in the wisdom of the past lies hope for the future.
-
-
Spectacular! A must read!
- By M.A. on 02-15-23
By: Spencer Klavan
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Storythinking
- The New Science of Narrative Intelligence (No Limits)
- By: Angus Fletcher
- Narrated by: Peter Lerman
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story. Every daily plan and every political vision, social movement, scientific hypothesis, business proposal, and technological breakthrough starts with “what if?” Linking causes to effects, considering hypotheticals and counterfactuals, asking how other people will react: these are the essence of narrative. So why do we keep overlooking story’s importance to intelligence in favor of logic?
By: Angus Fletcher
-
Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story
- By: Angus Fletcher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Angus Fletcher
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you want to write your own scripts or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the great stories you see unfold on the screen, Professor Angus Fletcher is here to show you the way in Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story. Professor Fletcher, Professor of English and Film at The Ohio State University, brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to this craft. As a screenwriter himself, he has experienced the ins and outs of the process first-hand.
-
-
Screenwriting 101 - Angus Fletcher
- By Siobhan Sands on 04-14-18
By: Angus Fletcher, and others
-
140 Days to Hiroshima
- The Story of Japan’s Last Chance to Avert Armageddon
- By: David Dean Barrett
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this heart-pounding account of the war-room drama inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan that led to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history’s first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war.
-
-
Never Giving Up
- By Rick B on 07-11-20
-
Rapt
- Attention and the Focused Life
- By: Winifred Gallagher
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Rapt, acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher makes the argument that the quality of your life largely depends on what you choose to pay attention to and how you choose to do it. Gallagher grapples with provocative questions - Can we train our focus? What's different about the way creative people pay attention? Why do we often zero in on the wrong factors when making big decisions? - driving us to reconsider what we think we know about attention.
-
-
The Neuroscience of Concentration
- By Roy on 06-02-09
-
A Test of Wills
- By: Charles Todd
- Narrated by: Samuel Giles
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.
-
-
Difficult to follow the narrator
- By Carol on 01-02-13
By: Charles Todd
-
The Perfectionists
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
-
-
Somewhat less than perfect
- By enya keshet on 06-19-18
By: Simon Winchester
-
Storythinking
- The New Science of Narrative Intelligence (No Limits)
- By: Angus Fletcher
- Narrated by: Peter Lerman
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story. Every daily plan and every political vision, social movement, scientific hypothesis, business proposal, and technological breakthrough starts with “what if?” Linking causes to effects, considering hypotheticals and counterfactuals, asking how other people will react: these are the essence of narrative. So why do we keep overlooking story’s importance to intelligence in favor of logic?
By: Angus Fletcher
-
Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story
- By: Angus Fletcher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Angus Fletcher
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you want to write your own scripts or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the great stories you see unfold on the screen, Professor Angus Fletcher is here to show you the way in Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story. Professor Fletcher, Professor of English and Film at The Ohio State University, brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to this craft. As a screenwriter himself, he has experienced the ins and outs of the process first-hand.
-
-
Screenwriting 101 - Angus Fletcher
- By Siobhan Sands on 04-14-18
By: Angus Fletcher, and others
-
140 Days to Hiroshima
- The Story of Japan’s Last Chance to Avert Armageddon
- By: David Dean Barrett
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this heart-pounding account of the war-room drama inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan that led to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history’s first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war.
-
-
Never Giving Up
- By Rick B on 07-11-20
-
Rapt
- Attention and the Focused Life
- By: Winifred Gallagher
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Rapt, acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher makes the argument that the quality of your life largely depends on what you choose to pay attention to and how you choose to do it. Gallagher grapples with provocative questions - Can we train our focus? What's different about the way creative people pay attention? Why do we often zero in on the wrong factors when making big decisions? - driving us to reconsider what we think we know about attention.
-
-
The Neuroscience of Concentration
- By Roy on 06-02-09
-
A Test of Wills
- By: Charles Todd
- Narrated by: Samuel Giles
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.
-
-
Difficult to follow the narrator
- By Carol on 01-02-13
By: Charles Todd
-
The Perfectionists
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
-
-
Somewhat less than perfect
- By enya keshet on 06-19-18
By: Simon Winchester
What listeners say about Wonderworks
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CharmedPen
- 12-03-21
Amazing!
As a writer and lifelong student of literature, I had hoped to gain some new insight by listening to this selection.
What I gained was so much more. it will require me to listen multiple times to gain all that I can from this book. In addition to discovering new ways to absorb literature, I was thoroughly entertained.
The writing is beautiful and engaging. I haven't thought this much, and at this depth, about literature since my honors program courses in college...and I don't mean just any of those particular courses -- I mean the best ones I ever took!
I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys the magic of literature.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gustavo Samarco
- 12-11-23
Mind blowing.
I ever thought I’d be so into a book about literature. This book not only changed the way I read books and watch movies but also created a whole new perspective about life in general. I actually bought the paper version to read it again and take notes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jacob
- 10-04-22
For writers and readers
There are very simple but powerful lessons in this book about how literature moves us. The magic here is how Fletcher analyzes the literary technologies across genres. The brilliance of each innovation is explained in relation to the brain; the audio of this book is heard clearly, with enthusiasm.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
- Christopher MacDonald
- 12-06-21
Powerful
Start of the book made it's case well enough I bought the Hardcover to follow along.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Zeno
- 03-14-21
to find them all in one place
this was one of the most intriguing books I ever read. so well done and the way it just lays it all out there. I'll be examining many of these for a long time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Becky Bug
- 10-24-21
Should have been dry and boring— it was not
After you listen to this book (and you should), I think you will agree with me that it is a powerful literary invention itself. Great insights into literature and many, many pointers to books that I now know I need to read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Charlotte Lawson
- 05-13-21
Wow!!!
This is an amazing read. I would recommend to anyone who reads to understand the breadth of emotions that literature from Pulp Fiction to Shakespeare evoke from our souls. A very easy read. Should be required reading in middle school to encourage amazing literature inventions from high school students and beyond. A must read for psychologists to prescribe reading to mend our minds. Well done.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chuck Wofford
- 08-16-22
Greatest book ever...
I think if I ever had to get down to one book this is it.., amazing insight & tons of knowledge... I'm now starting over.., I was was taught you need to hear something three times before you really remember it...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Orson Scott Card
- 05-20-21
a useful way of understanding storytelling
this wide ranging book applies scientific findings to help explain how and why every society needs storytelling -- and just how the methodology of storytelling has evolved over time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sandra H.
- 09-15-21
Kept coming back
I listened to this audiobook while I was working. Then I bought the physical book to better use for quick reference in the future. Then I listened to the audiobook again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!