Houston, We Have a Narrative

I will begin this review by saying that at it's core, the book presents some good ideas concerning narrative and literary structure that are applicable to science writing, both for academic and non-expert audiences. Olson is clearly experienced and uses a number of anecdotes to illustrate his points. However, this is where the good points end.This book was condescending, enormously self-aggrandising and a very long way from succinct. For someone who claims to understand innately how to make something compelling and readable, Olson spends a ridiculous amount of time labouring every obviously cherry-picked anecdotal evidence from his own life about how fantastic his format is. This has the effect of making the book almost unreadable; poorly structured and very irritating. I haven't started a book that I've not then finished in a very long time but this really tested my resolve.Olson ends the book, which I have to say was a real struggle to get through, with an uncharacteristically brief discussion of how learning this technique takes decades of concerted effort, which leaves the reader wondering why he even bothered to write this ill-considered book.Don't buy it. The only message you need is that the ABT format is a good way of structuring a point. "_____ and _____ but ____ therefore ____"

This book is humourous and very informative. Really enjoyed it.

Olson breaks his ideas for better science communication down into a simple formula (___ AND, ___, BUT ___, THEREFORE) that is as equally helpful to scientists as it is to science communicators and journalists. A good read for anyone looking to tell better science stories that readers will actually want to engage with.

I love Randy Olson's book, and use many of the concepts in it to teach science students how to write more effectively. If you're a scientist, or a science writer, or a student -- I highly recommend this book!

Received and read.