Atlas of the Heart

A field guide to eighty-seven human emotions and experiences, organized into thirteen "places we go" — when things are uncertain, when we are hurting, when life is good, when the heart is open. Brown's argument: language for our feelings is the foundation of meaningful connection.

This is Brown's first book to use extensive visual layout — illustrations, infographics, and design elements that make it function as both reading and reference. She moves through emotions one at a time, drawing distinctions her research kept finding important: the difference between empathy and sympathy, jealousy and envy, guilt and shame, anguish and grief. The book grew out of her observation that most people, when surveyed, can name only three emotions (happy, sad, angry) — and that this poverty of vocabulary affects how we understand ourselves and how deeply we can connect with others. Builds on her earlier work in vulnerability and shame research; the structure is reference rather than narrative argument.

Details

• Author: Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW
• Publisher: Random House
• Published: November 2021
• Pages: 336

About the Author

Brené Brown

Research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work, and visiting professor at the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. Brown has spent over two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She is the author of multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers including Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and Dare to Lead. Atlas of the Heart was adapted into a five-part HBO Max docuseries of the same name. Her 2010 TEDx talk "The Power of Vulnerability" is one of the most-watched TED talks of all time.