The Stories We Are: An Essay on Self-Creation (University of Toronto Press, 1995/2014)
Using categories like plot, character, point of view, and style, Randall plays with the possibility that we each make sense of the events of our lives to the extent that we weave them into our own unfolding novel, as simultaneously its author, narrator, main character, and reader. In the process, he offers us a unique perspective on features of our day-to-day world such as secrecy, self-deception, gossip, prejudice, intimacy, maturity, and the proverbial “art of living.”
First published in 1995, this second edition of The Stories We Are includes a new preface and afterword by the author that offer insight into his argument and evolution as a scholar, as well as an illuminating foreword by Ruthellen Josselson. “Bill Randall’s artistry and vitality provide an important point of reference, a work of some imagination and artistry, to assist many others on the journey. For this, we owe him a great debt.” (Linden West International Journal of Lifelong Education) “In this meaty, heavily referenced, and insightful book, William Lowell Randall ... speaks to both literary and psychological establishments about the importance of stories to our definition of ourselves.” (Cynthia Whissell Canadian Book Review Annual) |