{"product_id":"book-e062","title":"Wonderworks","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis “fascinating” (Malcolm Gladwell, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOutliers\u003c\/i\u003e) examination of literary inventions through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, shows how writers have created technical breakthroughs—rivaling scientific inventions—and engineering enhancements to the human heart and mind.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLiterature 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWonderworks \u003c\/i\u003ereviews the blueprints for twenty-five of the most significant developments in the history of literature. These inventions can be scientifically shown to alleviate grief, trauma, loneliness, anxiety, numbness, depression, pessimism, and ennui, while sparking creativity, courage, love, empathy, hope, joy, and positive change. They can be found throughout literature—from ancient Chinese lyrics to Shakespeare’s plays, poetry to nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and crime novels to slave narratives.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA “refreshing and remarkable” (Jay Parini, author of \u003ci\u003eBorges and Me: An Encounter\u003c\/i\u003e) exploration of the new literary field of story science, \u003ci\u003eWonderworks \u003c\/i\u003eteaches you everything you wish you learned in your English class, and “contains many instances of critical insight....What’s most interesting about this compendium is its understanding of imaginative representation as a technology” (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e).","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49346948366640,"sku":"BDe062","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49346948399408,"sku":"10e062","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/e062-Square-cover.jpg?v=1773693779","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-e062","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}