50 pages 1 hour read

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary and Study Guide

Overview

Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, published by Random House in 2021, is a self-help book subtitled “Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience.” Brown defines and explores over 80 different emotions and experiences gathered from her work as a grounded theory emotions researcher. Using her own research and extensive research from others, she defines each emotion/experience and often contrasts it with others. Brown believes that having this nuanced language helps the reader better understand the nuance between different emotions and experiences, so the reader can build connection with themself and their story as well as the stories and experiences of others.

This is Brown’s first book to be published with extensive artwork/visual aids, similar to a traditional coffee table book in its visual layout. Brown’s goal in this work is to make the book’s descriptions of the human experience more relatable, with plenty of examples for the reader to visualize. 

Summary

In the introduction, Brown explains how she has been a student of emotions since she was young. Through observation, she knew how to read people and predict what they would do or what they wanted from others. This caused her to become overwhelmed and anxious because she would hang on others’ words and actions to try to know how to please them or belong.

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