An inviting and highly readable new translation of Aristotle's completePoetics—the first and best introduction to the art of writing and understanding storiesAristotle'sPoeticsis the most important book ever written for writers and readers of stories—whether novels, short fiction, plays, screenplays, or nonfiction. Aristotle was the first to identify the keys to plot, character, audience perception, tragic pleasure, and dozens of other critical points of good storytelling. Despite being written more than 2,000 years ago, thePoeticsremains essential reading for anyone who wants to learn how to write a captivating story—or understand how such stories work and achieve their psychological effects. Yet for all its influence, thePoeticsis too little read because it comes down to us in a form that is often difficult to follow, and even the best translations are geared more to specialists than to general readers who simply...