The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better

I enjoy reading the occasional book on the craft of writing. Storr posits that stories make us human: we were evolved to care deeply about what happens to others, and our brains crave to understand the causes and effects of human behavior. (You know what we love most of all, according to Storr? GOSSIP. It's biology; we can't help ourselves.) According to Storr, when we better understand the physiology of stories, we tell better stories. I especially loved his copious examples, which run the gamut from Shakespeare to contemporary bestsellers.