Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature [Kietas viršelis]

A brilliant examination of literary inventions through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, that shows how writers have created technical breakthroughs&;rivaling any 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 powerful developments in the history of literature. These inventions can be scientifically shown to alleviate grief, trauma, loneliness, anxiety, numbness, depression, pessimism, and ennui&;all while sparking creativity, courage, love, empathy, hope, joy, and positive change. They can be found all throughout literature&;from ancient Chinese lyrics to Shakespeare&;s plays, poetry to nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and crime novels to slave narratives.

An easy-to-understand exploration of the new literary field of story science, Wonderworks teaches you everything you wish you learned in your English class. Based on author Angus Fletcher&;s own research, it is an eye-opening and thought-provoking work that offers us a new understanding of the power of literature.