Stories accompany us through life from birth to death. This title offers both a theory of how stories shape us and a useful method for analyzing them. It uses literary concepts to ask social scientific questions: how do stories make life better, and when do they endanger it?

Stories accompany us through life from birth to death. This title offers both a theory of how stories shape us and a useful method for analyzing them. It uses literary concepts to ask social scientific questions: how do stories make life better, and when do they endanger it?