Books for Storytellers

Jonathan Gottschall—once a passionate advocate for storytelling—turns a critical eye on its darker side, warning how stories can manipulate, divide, and fuel misinformation. While rooted in recent U.S. events, his argument holds global relevance, highlighting the double-edged power of narrative in shaping societies.

It’s a rare but wonderful experience: reading a book and realising you can’t possibly underline all the brilliant passages you want to remember — because there are simply too many of them. And with a truly great book, you end up underlining nearly everything, with sticky notes marking almost every page. Do you know that feeling? John Yorke’s Into the Woods is exactly that kind of book.

It begins with the very structure of the book itself and the chapter headings. Yorke doesn’t just write about the architecture of good stories — he constructs his own book accordingly, using a five-act structure:1. Home, 2. Woodland / Day, 3. The Forest, 4. The Road Back / Night, 5. Home Again / Changed - That alone had me hooked. This book is a true feast for professional storytellers — and for anyone aspiring to become one.

Byung-Chul Han zeigt in seinem Essay schonungslos, wie das strategische und konsumorientierte Storytelling

unsere Wahrnehmung verengt und die Kraft echter Erzählungen untergräbt. Seine Kritik trifft ins Mark – und zwingt zum Nachdenken über die Verantwortung all jener, die Geschichten beruflich nutzen.

Eine Liebeserklärung an die "Ohrwürmer des Internets", an Memes. Der Journalist und Leiter Social Media der Süddeutschen Zeitung beschreibt auf 76 Seiten dieses kleinen Büchleins den aktuellen Stand dieses seltsamen Internetphänomens, dessen Wesen man gar nicht so leicht auf die Schliche kommen kann.