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The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Written by: Joseph Campbell
Narrated by: Arthur Morey,John Lee,Susan Denaker
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Publisher's Summary

Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell's revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In this book, Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.

As relevant today as when it was first published, The Hero with a Thousand Faces continues to find new audiences in fields ranging from religion and anthropology to literature and film studies. The book has also profoundly influenced creative artists - including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakers - and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories.

©2008 The Joseph Campbell Foundation (jcf.org). Third edition (with revisions) / 1968 by Princeton University Press. Second edition (with revisions) / 1949 by Bollingen Foundation and published by Pantheon Books. (Original edition), year 2008 (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What the critics say

"Arthur Morey, John Lee, and Susan Denaker are an adept and experienced performance team. The way they trade voices adds texture to the complex compendium of stories." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Hero with a Thousand Faces

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not sure why this is a classic.

Moments of goodness, but mostly a dull wander that needed only 3 chapters. Not one I would recommend.

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Should have stopped at Power of myth

Too dry, far fetched, with high brown words. Most of what it says went right above my head. Oddly enough, I loved Power of myth by Bill Boyers.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A very hard listen but informative

Book is very philosophical and at times hard to follow. It's way too long for the content as well

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Kinda Sucked

The sample is very different from the rest of the book...

I love philosophic works but this was just too all over the place and filled with references to ancient stories and figures that I was not always familiar with, which made a lot of the book practically nonsensical. Even for all of the references I did get, the book was just dreary. I tried to keep going with it but I just stopped.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very difficult to understand.Ray Dalio recommended

Maybe I'm too dumb for this book, but I couldn't grasp it's arguments at all. very philosophical and vague. Almost like an abstract painting that is open to interpretation.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Yesss

Everyone should hear this or read it! This book is absolutely amazing I would recommend it to anybody!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Leo
  • 2018-07-20

Great*

Ending gets a bit repetetive. Main narrator's "s"'s will kill your ears if you're using headphones.

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