The Stories of Your Life

A fascinating, entertaining and deeply smart journey into the storytelling brain – Will Storr, bestselling author of The Status Game and The Science of StorytellingStories are essential for human beings. They allow us to learn, to connect, to empathize. The best stories follow structures that catalyze and amplify their power. In The Stories of Your Life, Ben Ambridge decodes and deciphers these master plots so we all can benefit and grow – Matt Abrahams, author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter and host of Think Fast, Talk SmartI’ve never read anyone draw a thread from Rhodopsis to Leicester City’s title-winning season via Grand Theft Auto IV before. This book will make you rethink every story you’re told for a long while afterwards. – Joel Golby, author of Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant

Ben Ambridge is Professor of Psycholinguistics at the University of Manchester and the ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD).

His first two books, Psy-Q: You Know Your IQ - Now Test Your Psychological Intelligence and Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee, have sold over 100,000 copies across sixteen language editions. These books led to regular columns in The Observer and The Big Issue, appearances on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans Breakfast Show, and the BBC’s Tiny Happy People website. He has also given talks at Google, The Royal Institution, Oxford Literary Festival, Wilderness Festival, and Bestival, and delivered a TEDx talk, ‘Nine Myths About Psychology’, which has garnered over 3 million views.

Ben’s day job as a prolific researcher of experimental psycholinguistics keeps him up to date with findings from the psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience literature. This knowledge is invaluable when undertaking writing projects at the intersection of these disciplines.