The Moth: This Is a True Story - Softcover

Burns, Catherine; Moth, The

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846689902 ISBN 13: 9781846689901

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2015

Synopsis

With an introduction by Neil Gaiman

Before television and radio, before penny paperbacks and mass literacy, people would gather on porches, on the steps outside their homes, and tell stories. The storytellers knew their craft and bewitched listeners would sit and listen long into the night as moths flitted around overhead. The Moth is a non-profit group that is trying to recapture this lost art, helping storytellers - old hands and novices alike - hone their stories before playing to packed crowds at sold-out live events.

The very best of these stories are collected here: whether it's Bill Clinton's hell-raising press secretary or a leading geneticist with a family secret; a doctor whisked away by nuns to Mother Teresa's bedside or a film director saving her father's Chinatown store from money-grabbing developers; the Sultan of Brunei's concubine or a friend of Hemingway's who accidentally talks himself into a role as a substitute bullfighter, these eccentric, pitch-perfect stories - all, amazingly, true - range from the poignant to the downright hilarious.

About this title

About the Author:

The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It is a celebration of both the raconteur, who breathes fire into true tales of ordinary life, and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. At the center of each performance is, of course, the story and The Moth's directors work with each storyteller to find, shape and present it. The Moth received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in January 2012.

Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide.

Catherine Burns is Artistic Director of The Moth.

Review:

"Passionate . . . brilliant, and quietly addictive."―The London Guardian

"[In this book] the stories not only maintain their oral integrity but also take on new dimensions, allowing you to ponder a turn of events or to swirl the language around in your head without missing the next part of the story."―David Vecsey, NYTimes.com "The 6th Floor" blog

"Burns, artistic director of the award-winning The Moth Radio Hour, frees stories whetted for a live audience onto the page, proving the richness of great storytelling: that one can gain as much as a member of an audience communally cringing, laughing and weeping, as a reader privately surrendering to the complicity of human experience."―Publishers Weekly

"When I started to read the new collection 'The Moth: 50 True Stories,' [the storytellers'] distinctive voices turned on my audio button. It felt as if they had channeled these stories to me."―Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune "Editor's Choice"

About this edition

• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1846689902
• ISBN 13: 9781846689901
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400