{"product_id":"9780812998931","title":"The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of how literature shaped world history, in sixteen acts—from Alexander the Great and the\u003ci\u003e Iliad\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e and Harry Potter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today. Puchner introduces us to numerous visionaries as he explores sixteen foundational texts selected from more than four thousand years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed, literature has touched the lives of generations and changed the course of history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of this book are works, some long-lost and rediscovered, that have shaped civilization: the first written masterpiece, the\u003ci\u003e Epic of Gilgamesh;\u003c\/i\u003e Ezra’s Hebrew Bible, created as scripture; the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus; and the first great novel in world literature, \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eTale of Genji\u003c\/i\u003e, written by a Japanese woman known as Murasaki. Visiting Baghdad, Puchner tells of Scheherazade and the stories of \u003ci\u003eOne Thousand and One Nights,\u003c\/i\u003e and in the Americas we watch the astonishing survival of the Maya epic \u003ci\u003ePopol Vuh\u003c\/i\u003e. Cervantes, who invented the modern novel, battles pirates both real (when he is taken prisoner) and literary (when a fake sequel to \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e is published). We learn of Benjamin Franklin’s pioneering work as a media entrepreneur, watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eCommunist Manifesto\u003c\/i\u003e. We visit Troy, Pergamum, and China, and we speak with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, as well as the wordsmiths of the oral epic \u003ci\u003eSunjata\u003c\/i\u003e in West Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout \u003ci\u003eThe Written World,\u003c\/i\u003e Puchner’s delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions—writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself—that have shaped religion, politics, commerce, people, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as “unique and spellbinding,” Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Well worth a read, to find out how come we read.”—Margaret Atwood, via Twitter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e “A gripping intellectual odyssey.”\u003ci\u003e—Publishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“An expansive, exuberant survey of the central importance of literature in human culture but also a great adventure story.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Swerve\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47016598470896,"sku":"9780812998931","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780812998931_p0.jpg?v=1763739100","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780812998931","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}