When Kurt Vonnegut, author of modern classics like Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle, studied anthropology at the University of Chicago, he found that all stories share only a handful of basic shapes. According to Vonnegut, you can trace any narrative by the rise and fall of the main characters’ fortunes. He identified certain standbys, like the well-worn “Rags to Riches” story (Down then Up), and the “Boy meets Girl” tale where a couple meets each other, then loses each other, then gets each other back (Up then Down then Up again). But of all the possible shapes Vonnegut discovered, he
...more
