A review by bub_9
Seduced by Story: The Use and Abuse of Narrative by Peter Brooks

1.0

I was sorely disappointed by this. The introduction is promising, if a little self-satisfied, as the author discusses how the world, power relations, and various cultural areas have shifted ever more towards narrativisation in recent decades. In fact, in the next few chapters, which are strangely incoherent with little sense of a common thread holding them together, the author proceeds to spend inordinate amounts of time on 18th-century French literature and late-19th-century/early-20th-century American literature, explaining how these works exemplify the power and dangers of narrative. But that's not what we were promised! To make things worse, a random chapter on legal issues is tacked on at the end, which the author purports is because the legal system has "unique importance" in the sphere of narratology, but which is clearly just an outgrowth of the author's frustration with the Supreme Court.

Skip.