"This book is about how stories - from television commercials to dreams or parody of arm wrestling competitions - saturate our lives. It is about the depth of meaning contained in the joyful confusion of childhood fantasies, and about the ancient origin of storytelling; about how fiction gradually shapes what we believe, how we behave and what we consider ethical - how it changes the entire culture and history of mankind; about the ancient mysteries of the amazing nocturnal stories we call dreams; about how the brain processes information and orders the chaos of our existence. It is also about the uncertain present of fantasies, and about their future full of hope. In general, it is about the great mystery of fiction. How did we become story-telling animals?" (Jonathan Gottschall)