Jonathan Gottschall (Author of The Storytelling Animal)

Jonathan Gottschall鈥檚 Followers (155)

Add New
Videos

Add a comment

Jonathan Gottschall

Born

The United States

Website

edit data

Jonathan Gottschall is an American literary scholar, the leading younger figure in literature and evolution. He teaches at Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. He completed graduate work in English at State University of New York at Binghamton, where he worked under David Sloan Wilson.

His work The Rape of Troy: Evolution, Violence and the World of Homer describes the Homeric epic poems Iliad and Odyssey in terms of evolutionary psychology, with the central violent conflicts in these works driven by the lack of young women to marry and the resulting evolutionary legacy, as opposed to the violent conflicts being driven by honor or wealth.

Literature, Science and a New Humanities advocates that the humanities, and literary studies ...more

Combine Editions
Jonathan Gottschall鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.71 · 8,703 ratings · 1,235 reviews · 11 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human 3.70 avg rating — 6,867 ratings — published 2012 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch 3.77 avg rating — 1,261 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Story Paradox: How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears them Down 3.71 avg rating — 392 ratings — published 2021 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative by E.O. Wilson (Foreword), Frederick C. Crews (Foreword), Jonathan Gottschall (Editor) 4.08 avg rating — 108 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rape of Troy: Evolution, Violence, and the World of Homer 3.73 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Evolution, Literature, and Film: A Reader by Brian Boyd (Editor), Joseph Carroll (Editor), Jonathan Gottschall (Editor) 4.13 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Literature, Science, and a New Humanities 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2008 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Graphing Jane Austen: The Evolutionary Basis of Literary Meaning by Joseph Carroll, Jonathan Gottschall, John A. Johnson really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heart of a Man: Men's Stories for Women by Bill Amatneek (欧宝娱乐 Author) (Editor), Michael Chabon (Contributor), Andre Dubus III (Contributor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2021	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stories That Make You... by Thomas C. Foster, Mieke Bal, Temple Grandin it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Jonathan Gottschall…

Quotes by Jonathan Gottschall (?)

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.”
― Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

134 likes

“The storytelling mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It is addicted to meaning. If the storytelling mind cannot find meaningful patterns in the world, it will try to impose them. In short, the storytelling mind is a factory that churns out true stories when it can, but will manufacture lies when it can鈥檛.”
― Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

16 likes

“Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape.”
― Jonathan Gottschall

11 likes

See all Jonathan Gottschall's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The History Book ...: 6. DR ZHIVAGO - HF - CHAPTER 7 and CHAPTER 8 - pgs 209- 275 ~ July 8th - July 14th -> No Spoilers, Please	34	98	Jul 16, 2012 11:45AM
2025 Reading Chal...: Karina: 100 books	148	162	Dec 31, 2012 11:31PM
The Reading Chall...: Anti Alphabet Soup	50	136	Dec 02, 2020 06:58AM
Catching up on Cl...: Rosemarie's "Too Many Books- Too Little Time" Personal Challenge	199	464	Apr 29, 2025 01:13PM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Jonathan to 欧宝娱乐.

欧宝娱乐

Jonathan Gottschall鈥檚 Followers (155)

Add NewVideos

Jonathan Gottschall

Combine EditionsJonathan Gottschall鈥檚 books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

Combine Editions
Jonathan Gottschall鈥檚 books