{"title":"Will Storr","description":"Will Storr is an award-winning journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, The Observer, GQ, and Esquire. He is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books, including Selfie, The Unpersuadables, and The Science of Storytelling. Known for blending rigorous reporting with psychological insight, Storr writes about belief, identity, and the hidden forces that shape human behavior. He lives in England.","products":[{"product_id":"selfie-how-we-became-so-self-obsessed-and-what-its-doing-to-us-paperback","title":"Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eProvocative, humane, and deeply readable, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSelfie\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e is both a sweeping intellectual history and an urgent diagnosis of modern life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book, which NPR's \u003ci\u003eOn Point \u003c\/i\u003esays is a \"terrific tour through the history of self-obsession,\" offers readers a powerful new way to understand who we are, why we feel the way we do--and how we might loosen the grip of an ideal that was never designed to make us whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe live in an age of relentless self-scrutiny. From social media feeds to self-help mantras, we are told that success, happiness, and even moral worth begin and end with the individual self. In \u003ci\u003eSelfie\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning journalist Will Storr asks a disturbing question: where did this idea of the \"perfect self\" come from--and what is it doing to us?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on psychology, neuroscience, history, economics, and cultural analysis, Storr traces the evolution of the Western self from Ancient Greece through Christianity, the Enlightenment, and the rise of modern consumer culture. Along the way, he reveals how centuries-old beliefs about identity and virtue have fused with contemporary technology to create a culture of perfectionism, personal branding, and chronic comparison.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStorr shows how today's obsession with self-esteem and individual achievement has left many people anxious, isolated, and unhappy. Rather than making us freer or more fulfilled, the modern cult of the self often deepens feelings of inadequacy and fuels rising levels of depression, narcissism, and social fragmentation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367070793951,"sku":"9781468316957","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/SK0ROLL4OE9781468316957.webp?v=1789102306"},{"product_id":"the-science-of-storytelling-why-stories-make-us-human-and-how-to-tell-them-better-paperback","title":"The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling, based on the wildly popular creative writing class.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Enlightening and empowering, \u003ci\u003eThe Science of Storytelling\u003c\/i\u003e is destined to become an invaluable resource for writers of all stripes, whether novelist, screenwriter, playwright, children's writer, or writer of creative or traditional nonfiction. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers--and also our brains--create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Will Storr's superbly chosen examples range from Harry Potter to Jane Austen to Alice Walker, Greek drama to Russian novels to Native American folk tales, \u003ci\u003eKing Lear\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eBreaking Bad\u003c\/i\u003e to children's stories. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With sections such as \"The Dramatic Question,\" \"Creating a World,\" and \"Plot, Endings, and Meaning,\" as well as a practical, step-by-step appendix dedicated to \"The Sacred Flaw Approach,\" \u003ci\u003eThe Science of Storytelling\u003c\/i\u003e reveals just what makes stories work, placing it alongside such creative writing classics as John Yorke's \u003ci\u003eInto the Woods: A Five-Act Journey into Story\u003c\/i\u003e and Lajos Egri's \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Dramatic Writing.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"If you want to write a novel or a script, read this book. It is clear, compelling, and tightly shaped.\" ―\u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003e(London)\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376601727199,"sku":"9781419747953","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/aBpVKTY1om9781419747953.webp?v=1789218131"},{"product_id":"the-unpersuadables-adventures-with-the-enemies-of-science-paperback","title":"The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCompelling, unsettling, and often darkly funny, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Unpersuadables\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e is a profound exploration of belief in an age of polarization. It challenges readers to reconsider not only why others believe what they do, but how easily any of us can become prisoners of the stories we tell ourselves.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy don't facts change minds? In \u003ci\u003eThe Unpersuadables\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning journalist Will Storr sets out to answer one of the most urgent questions of modern life: why intelligent, rational people can hold beliefs that fly in the face of overwhelming evidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat begins as a single encounter with a committed creationist becomes a globe-spanning investigation into the psychology of belief. Storr travels from Texas to Eastern Europe and the Scottish islands, immersing himself in the worlds of Holocaust deniers, climate-change skeptics, conspiracy theorists, and believers in past-life regression and satanic ritual abuse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlending investigative journalism with memoir and cutting-edge research from neuroscience and experimental psychology, Storr reveals how human beings construct meaning through stories--and how those stories can harden into identities that resist all contradiction. At the heart of the book is the brain's \"hero-making\" impulse, a deeply human drive that can foster conviction, belonging, and purpose, but also denial, tribalism, and hostility to evidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraised by \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e as \"A tour de force . . . [Storr's] dogged approach to nailing many of the most celebrated skeptics in lies and misrepresentations is welcome.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379055853791,"sku":"9781468310108","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/lzvQyv_04m9781468310108.webp?v=1789268447"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/will-storr.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}