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Inspired by Jane Austen
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Start giftingJane on the Brain
Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen
Narrator
Cassandra Campbell
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
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Length
16 hours 6 minutes
Language
English
Why is Jane Austen so phenomenally popular? Why do we read Pride and Prejudice again and again? Why do we delight in Emma's mischievous schemes? Why do we care that Anne Elliot of Persuasion suffers?
We care because it is our biological destiny to be interested in people and their stories—the human brain is a social brain. And Austen's characters are so believable, that for many of us, they are not just imaginary beings, but friends whom we know and love. And thanks to Austen's ability to capture the breadth and depth of human psychology so thoroughly, we feel that she empathizes with us, her readers.
Humans have a profound need for empathy, to know that we are not alone with our joys and sorrows. And then there is attachment, denial, narcissism, and of course, love, to name a few. We see ourselves and others reflected in Austen's work.
Wendy Jones is a practicing psychotherapist and former English professor known for her work on the connection between literature and the mind-brain sciences. Jones received her PhD in English Literature from Cornell University and subsequently was Senior Lecturer and a Fellow at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell and she has been a visiting professor at Williams College, University of Rochester, and Syracuse University. She lives in Ithaca, New York.
Cassandra Campbell has recorded nearly two hundred audiobooks and directed many more. She has been nominated for and won multiple Audie Awards, as well as the prestigious Odyssey Award. She has received numerous starred audio reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and more than twenty AudioFile Earphones Awards. Cassandra was also named a Best Voice by AudioFile for 2009 and 2010.