Explore storytelling as an art form that has existed for centuries, from the first spoken and sung stories to those that are drawn and performed today.

This book serves as an indispensable resource for students and scholars interested in storytelling and in multicultural approaches to the arts. By taking an evolutionary approach, it begins with a discussion of origin stories and continues through history to stories of the 21st century. The text not only engages the stories themselves, it also explains how individuals from all disciplines – from doctors and lawyers to priests and journalists – use stories to focus their readers'' and listeners'' attention and influence them.