“Frank is a beautiful writer and this is a terrific book. His socio-narratology, while clearly drawing on the work of earlier scholars, is genuinely original, and his mastery of narrative theory, facility with a range of theoretical traditions of narrative analysis, deep fondness for literature, and capacity as a storyteller—all these together allow him to make a very persuasive case.”

Cheryl Mattingly, University of Southern California

“This is a powerful book. Arthur Frank already has a reputation as a sophisticated and sensitive interpreter of how stories shape human experience, and Letting Stories Breathe will cement his legacy. Moving beyond his important earlier work on illness stories, Frank outlines both a general theory (socio-narratology) and a method (dialogic narrative analysis) for understanding and studying ‘how stories act’ in the lives of individuals and groups. His writing is consistently clear and concise as well as, at times, moving and deeply personal, conveying in its style and language the very ethical commitments that are central to the argument of the book. Frank is himself a good storyteller and he weaves argument and illustration together in just the right balance.”

Joseph E. Davis, University of Virginia

“Every chapter offers shrewd observations: on storytelling practice, on how to analyze narrative, on the ways in which narratives deal with the ‘biographical disruption’ that serious disease brings to the stories people tell themselves about their lives, and on the questions and ethical judgments embedded in stories.”

Choice