Overview

This is a new and important contribution to the explosion of contemporary interest in life as story and lifestories. Written in a lively and readable manner, the book explores theoretical, practical, ethical, and personal aspects of this fascinating topic area. It invites the reader, whether professional or general, to realize the potential to restory his or her own life and to coauthor others' lives in a positive way. This book is a refreshingly readable blend of practical insight and academic analysis concerning the familiar, but fascinating metaphor: the story of my life. It offers an engaging perspective on the aesthetic dimensions of composing (or storying) our lives. Woven around numerous entailments of the life-as-story metaphor, like plot, character, theme, point of view, and setting, it introduces a variety of novel concepts, such as coauthoring, biographical coaching, biographical aging, narrative environment, larger stories, radical restorying, and storying style in order to probe the complex hermeneutical and ethical issues surrounding the storytelling/storylistening exchange that is integral to therapeutic care, qualitative research, and, indeed, everyday life. With a comprehensive bibliography on the narrative approach in the human sciences, plus numerous examples that illustrate the enticing theoretical perspective at the book's core, this work constitutes a valuable resource for anyone curious about the dynamics of continuity and change—or restorying—in both their own and other's lives. It appeals to a broad range of readers from social workers to gerontologists, from psychotherapists to memory theorists, from spiritual directors to health care providers, and from professional philosophers to individuals involved in self-exploration.

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9780275956639

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Reviews

Kenyon and Randall show that what they call 'master narratives, ' dictated by the leaders of society's powerful institutions, submerge profoundly important parts of ourselves, write them out of our stories of who we are, and devastatingly limit our lives. With great clarity, humor, and compassion, Kenyon and Randall lead us in honestly rewriting our stories and thus in rebirthing our lives. -Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D. author of They Say You're Crazy: How the World's Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who's Normal This is a book for the future, your future. As we approach the beginning of a new century and a new millennium we look for change. We expect the outside world to change but what about change in the world inside of us. Only we can change the way we look at ourselves and how we tell ourselves and others the story of our lives. Take time to tell and restory your life. Gary Kenyon and William Randall have given us a pathway to 'Restorying Our Lives.' Walk that pathway into your future. -James E. Birren, Ph.D. Associate Director UCLA Center on Aging In Restorying Our Lives, Gary Kenyon and William Randall present some of the latest thinking about the meaning and the making of life stories. Their comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of the stories we live by will prove illuminating for psychological theorists, researchers, therapists, counselors, ministers, educators, and many others who are concerned with how men and women create identity in today's world. -Dan P. McAdams Charles Deering McCormick Prof. of Human Development and Psychology Northwestern University Author of The Stories We Live By

In Restorying Our Lives, Gary Kenyon and William Randall present some of the latest thinking about the meaning and the making of life stories. Their comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of the stories we live by will prove illuminating for psychological theorists, researchers, therapists, counselors, ministers, educators, and many others who are concerned with how men and women create identity in today's world. -Dan P. McAdams Charles Deering McCormick Prof. of Human Development and Psychology Northwestern University Author of The Stories We Live By

Author Information

GARY M. KENYON is Director of Gerontology, St. Thomas University. WILLIAM L. RANDALL is Research Associate to the Chair in Gerontology, St. Thomas University. Both professors have taught and published extensively in the area of personal development.

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