The Passionate Fact: Storytelling in Natural History and Cultural Interpretation (Environmental Communication) [Paperback]

Susan Strauss (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Strauss is recognized as one of the finest storytellers in the country. She has performed for more than 15 years at institutions such as the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and frequently gives workshops for the National Parks and Forest Services.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (May 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555919251
• ISBN-13: 978-1555919252
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars reliable wisdom on storytelling, March 20, 2004

By 

dragondazd (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passionate Fact: Storytelling in Natural History and Cultural Interpretation (Environmental Communication) (Paperback)

This book is a bit of a crash course in storytelling itself and in addition explains how to effectively add information to a story.

After reading this book I spoke to five storytellers on the subject of telling stories with environmental themes. I was surprised to discover that all of these storytellers and the author if this book had come to the same conclusions. Most of them did not have formal training but only leraned through experience. Yet they all agreed on what a story is, what it can do, why a story is so useful, and how it can and cannot be used. This book nicely packaged these ideas together.

The goal of storytelling is to create a connection between the teller and the audience, and then the audience to the material being interpreted. You can't predict how they're going to react, and you should not try to force a moral upon them. Stories are beautiful because the listener has just enough room to imagine, and make the story relevent to themselves. Their ability to think should be respected so they can come up with their own morals, even if it's not what you intended.

So a story is not meant to directly give out information, messages, and morals, but it is useful in making a personal connection to the material, showing the audience why it is relevant to them. Stories can be immensely useful in interpretation, and this book provides a lot of good advice.

She has a very friendly writing style. She has many lovely stories in this book. And she is very quoteable.