Storylines: How Words Shape Our World

J. Edward Chamberlin draws together anecdotes and insights from a celebrated career in this timely exploration of the power of stories and songs—from both the distant past and today’s news, countering despair and disillusionment with hope and possibility.

Stories are our first and last survival strategy; for millions of years, more or less, they told humanity what we know, and what we don’t know; what to wonder about, and what to watch out for. These days many of us feel that we need all the...