Even if the general narrative were completely false in a story, some level of ‘realism’ is an almost absolute requirement for a story to be enjoyed and retold.

Even if the general narrative were completely false in a story, some level of ‘realism’ is an almost absolute requirement for a story to be enjoyed and retold. Just yesterday, I told my two year old a story about how he was playing in the playground with his best friend T-Rex, collecting acorns, and a family of talking squirrels came down and asked if they could have some, then they invited them up to their treehouse to play. An absurd story, to be sure, but also — the playground was real, acorns are real, squirrels are real, the fact that my son likes to collect acorns is real. There’s lots of true information available in even deeply silly stories.