The Uses of Enchantment

Winner of the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award “A charming book about enchantment, a profound book about fairy tales.”—John Updike, The New York Times Book Review   Bruno Bettelheim was one of the great child psychologists of the twentieth century and perhaps none of his books has been more influential than this revelatory study of fairy tales and their universal importance in understanding childhood development. Analyzing a wide range of traditional stories, from the tales of Sindbad to “The Three Little Pigs,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “The Sleeping Beauty,” Bettelheim shows how the fantastical, sometimes cruel, but always deeply significant narrative strands of the classic fairy tales can aid in our greatest human task, that of finding meaning for one’s life.

Additional ISBNs: 0679723935, 9780679723936

The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales is written by Bruno Bettelheim and published by Vintage. The Digital and eTextbook ISBNs for The Uses of Enchantment are 9780307773524, 0307773523 and the print ISBNs are 9780307739636, 0307739635.