The Book of Human Emotions: From Ambiguphobia to Umpty -- 154 Words from Around the World for How We Feel

by Tiffany Watt Smith Narrated by Suzanne Toren

Overview

A thoughtful, gleeful encyclopedia of emotions, both broad and outrageously specific, from throughout history and around the world.

How do you feel today? Is your heart fluttering in anticipation? Your stomach tight with nerves? Are you falling in love? Feeling a bit miffed? Do you have the heebie-jeebies? Are you antsy with iktsuarpok or filled with nakhes? Recent research suggests there are only six basic emotions. But if that makes you feel uneasy, suspicious, and maybe even a little bereft, The Book of Human Emotions is for you.

In this unique book, you'll get to travel across the world and through time, learning how different cultures have articulated the human experience and picking up some fascinating new knowledge about yourself along the way. From the familiar (anger) to the foreign (zal), each entertaining and informative alphabetical entry reveals the surprising connections and fascinating facts behind our emotional lives.

Whether you're in search of the perfect word to sum up that cozy feeling you get from being inside on a cold winter's night, surrounded by friends and good food (what the Dutch call gezelligheid), or wondering how nostalgia evolved from a fatal illness to enjoyable self-indulgence, Tiffany Watt Smith draws on history, anthropology, science, art, literature, music, and popular culture to find the answers.

In reading The Book of Human Emotions, you'll discover feelings you never knew you had (like basorexia, the sudden urge to kiss someone) and gain unexpected insights into why you feel the way you do. Besides, aren't you curious what nginyiwarrarringu means?

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

The tasteful drama in Suzanne Toren’s urbane performance makes this a most enjoyable audio to hear. Her creative phrasing and historical sensibilities leave no meaning or nuance unexpressed. This exceptional audiobook begins with a curiosity-provoking overview of how emotions have been thought about and spoken about since the dawn of recorded history. The meat of the program is a series of essays on the evolution of words for emotions, essays full of information that somehow also elevate listeners to a thoughtful place where they can pause, reflect, and absorb the author’s global perspective on humanity. Though Smith’s thinking is manifestly abstract or even academic—like an anthropology or history lecture—her gift for journalistic narrative and Suzanne Toren’s vocal engagement will make a lot of listeners hear it in a more personal way. T.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

The tasteful drama in Suzanne Toren’s urbane performance makes this a most enjoyable audio to hear. Her creative phrasing and historical sensibilities leave no meaning or nuance unexpressed. This exceptional audiobook begins with a curiosity-provoking overview of how emotions have been thought about and spoken about since the dawn of recorded history. The meat of the program is a series of essays on the evolution of words for emotions, essays full of information that somehow also elevate listeners to a thoughtful place where they can pause, reflect, and absorb the author’s global perspective on humanity. Though Smith’s thinking is manifestly abstract or even academic—like an anthropology or history lecture—her gift for journalistic narrative and Suzanne Toren’s vocal engagement will make a lot of listeners hear it in a more personal way. T.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170351138
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	06/07/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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