Wonderworks : Literary Invention and the Science of stories / Angus Fletcher.

Includes index.

Preface: A heaven of invention--
Introduction: The lost technology--
Rally your courage: Homer's Iliad and the invention of the almighty heart--
Rekindle the romance: Sappho's Lyrics, the Odes of Eastern Zhou, and the invention of the secret discloser--
Exit anger: the book of Job, Sophocles's Oedipus Tyrannus, and the invention of the empathy generator--
Float above hurt: Aesop's Fables, Plato's Meno, and the invention of the serenity elevator
Excite your curiosity: the Epic of Sundiata, the modern thriller, and the invention of the tale told from our future--
Free your mind: Dante's Inferno, Machiavelli's Innovatori, and the invention of the vigilance trigger--
Jettison your pessimism: Giovanni Straparola, the original Cinderella, and the invention of the fairy-tale twist--
Heal from grief: Shakespeare's Hamlet and the invention of the sorrow resolver
Banish despair: John Donne's "songs" and the invention of the mind-eye opener
Achieve self-acceptance: Cao Xueqin's Dream of the red chamber, Zhuangzi's "Tale of Wonton," and the invention of the butterfly immerser--
Ward off heartbreak: Jane Austen, Henry Fielding, and the invention of the valentine armor
Energize your life: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, modern meta-horror, and the invention of the stress transformer--
Solve every mystery: Francis Bacon, Edgar Allan Poe, and the invention of the virtual --scientist--
Become your better self: Frederick Douglass, Saint Augustine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the invention of the life evolver--
Bounce back from failure: George Eliot's Middlemarch and the invention of the gratitude multiplier--
Clear your head: "Rashōmon," Julius Caesar, and the invention of the second look--
Find peace of mind: Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and the invention of the riverbank of consciousness--
Feed your creativity: Winnie-the-Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and the invention of the --anarchy rhymer--
Unlock salvation: To kill a mock-ingbird, Shakespeare's soliloquy breakthrough, and the invention of the humanity connector--
Renew your future: Gabriel García Márquez's One hundred years of solitude, Franz Kafka's The metamorphosis, and the invention of the revolution rediscovery--
Decide wiser: Ursula Le Guin's The left hand of darkness, Thomas More's Utopia, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's travels, and the invention of the double alien--
Believe in yourself: Maya Angelou's I know why the caged bird sings and the invention of the choose your own accomplice--
Unfreeze your heart: Alison Bechdel, Euripides, Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, and the invention of the clinical joy--
Live your dream: Tina Fey's 30 Rock, a dash of "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and the invention of the wish triumphant---
Lessen your lonely: Elena Ferrante's My brilliant friend, Mario Puzo's The godfather, and the invention of the childhood opera--
Conclusion: Inventing tomorrow--
Coda: The secret history of this book.

"A brilliant examination of literary invention through the ages, from ancient Mesopotamia to Elena Ferrante, showing how writers created technical breakthroughs as sophisticated and significant as any in science, and in the process, engineered enhancements to the human heart and mind"-- Provided by publisher.