Books by Frank Rose

The Sea We Swim In

How Stories Work in a Data-Driven World

“For the past decade, Rose has shifted his attention from telling stories to dissecting them, researching how technology has collided with humanity’s innate need for narratives. . . . In his latest book, ‘The Sea We Swim In,’ Rose explains the science of how narratives shape our reality and how the Internet has broken the spell of passive consumption.”

—Contagious (UK)

BUILDING ON INSIGHTS from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, ‘The Sea We Swim In’ shows us how to see the world in narrative terms, not as a thesis to be argued or a pitch to be made but as a story to be told. This is the essence of narrative thinking. More about this book…

The Art of Immersion

How the Digital Generation Is Changing Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories

“It’s a grand trip, taking in everything from Charles Dickens to Super Mario and ‘Avatar.’ The book is meticulously researched, persuasively constructed and benefits from an impressive level of access.”

— New Scientist

NOT LONG AGO WE WERE passive consumers of mass media. Now we approach television, movies, even advertising as invitations to participate. We are witnessing the emergence of a new form of narrative that is native to the Internet. More about this book…

The Agency

William Morris and The Hidden History of Show Business

“This juicy narrative reveals the shark tank at its most lethal and hilarious. The anecdotes come at us at assault-rifle speed, but it’s Rose’s deft use of show-biz vernacular that keeps the pages turning.”

— San Francisco Chronicle

FOR DECADES, the Morris agency made deals that determined the fate of stars, studios, and television networks alike. But everything changed after the agency’s president dismissed his own best friend, the man who’d brought Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz out of the mailroom. A multi-generational saga of loyalty and betrayal in Hollywood. More about this book…

West of Eden

The End of Innocence at Apple Computer

“Zesty, highly readable . . . ‘West of Eden’ delivers a bracing keyhole view of a swarm of rich, talented people frequently at each others’ throats. The author . . . has a sharp eye for the painful contradictions in people’s lives that make you glad he’s profiling somebody else.”

— San Francisco Chronicle

IT SEEMS UNTHINKABLE TODAY—but some 35 years ago, when personal computers were still new and the World Wide Web had yet to be invented, Steve Jobs was cast out of Apple. And yet it wasn’t just Wall Street that applauded—it was most of Silicon Valley. More about this book…

Into the Heart of the Mind

An American Quest For Artificial Intelligence

“A good, accessible report for the general reader on one of the most bizarre fascinations of modern science.”

— Theodore Roszak, San Francisco Chronicle

IN A CRAMPED LABORATORY tucked away in the Berkeley engineering school, a small team of scientists is trying to teach a minicomputer named Kim No-VAX to think—not just to shuffle data, but to learn, reason, remember, understand English, make associations, and exhibit that quality we call “common sense.”

Real Men

Sex and Style In An Uncertain Age

“What Rose has drawn out are the candid — sometimes even intemperate — self-revelations of seven men living in what he calls ‘an uncertain age.’ All seven . . . admit to being confused about themselves, unsure of what comes next. Their willingness to share these doubts . . . is what makes these men more real than their predecessors.”

— The Washington Post

THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT BEING MALE. About power and discipline, sex and violence, and the roles they play in the lives of American men today. Think of it as a personal and idiosyncratic survey designed to produce not statistical data but individual answers to the question of what it means to be a man.