How to Tell a Story

An Ancient Guide to the Art of Storytelling for Writers and Readers

An inviting and accessible new translation of Aristotle's complete Poetics—the first and best introduction to the art of writing and understanding stories

Aristotle's Poetics is the most important book ever written for writers and readers of stories—whether novels, short fiction, plays, screenplays, or nonfiction. Aristotle was the first to identify the keys to plot, character, audience perception, tragic pleasure, and dozens of other critical points of good storytelling. Despite being written more than 2,000 years ago, the Poetics remains essential reading for anyone who wants to learn how to write a captivating story—or understand how such stories work and achieve their psychological effects. Yet for all its influence, the Poetics is too little read because it comes down to us in a form that is often difficult to follow, and even the best translations are geared more to specialists than to general readers who simply want to grasp Aristotle's profound and practical insights. In How to Tell a Story, Philip Freeman presents the most accessible translation of the Poetics yet produced, making this indispensable book more engaging and useful than ever before.

©2022 Princeton University Press (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Not Many Stories Here

Overall, pretty dull, uninspired, mostly a recital of obvious information you might hear in a seventh-grade public speaking class.

4. An ornamental noun is...

the book was absolutely dull. the speed it's read at is so unbearable I had to check to see if it was actually set to an extra slow speed. I had about 30 minutes left of the book before I decided to just stop. the book runs through very basic things I'd imagen children have been taught in school. as well as brushing through different poems while examining why they are good. nearing the end they start listing and describing words and when they get to "4. an ornamental noun is" they simply don't say anything then skip to 5.. it was at that point I stopped listening. wouldn't recommend to anyone.