The subtitle of this book is "Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation" - which almost sums it up. I'd go further and add "Essential" to that subtitle. Click on the image, or on the following link, to read a substantial excerpt from Directing the Story on Google Books.
If you've opened up the book preview (it'll open in a new tab or new window), look at the table of contents. (I really love it when publishers make important excerpts from the books available - I don't have to waste space here and we all get to see the real thing.) He starts by asking "Why do we watch (movies)?" and the theme of asking fundamental questions continues throughout the book.
And he answers the questions, too - using insights from modern neuropsychology and scientific understanding of our senses, brains and minds. I admire him for this, as well - I feel that understanding what makes us tick is important for understanding stories, storytelling, characters in stories, and our audiences.
He focuses on cinematically told stories - in which the sequenced images that make up a movie are a language that the director uses to direct the audience's attention and guide them through the movie's story.
The whole book is constructed using storytelling techniques and includes storyboard examples that illuminate the concepts he's discussing. It's not a textbook on storytelling, but there is enough here to go on. It's also not a textbook on drawing, but there's enough drawing instruction and advice in here to improve any storyboard artist's work.
I love this book and everyone who tells stories in any of the movie media needs it. He provides a complete bibliography, so you can find out more about any of the topics he covers. This book is the keystone of an animator's library.
The best place I found for more about Mr. Glebas is his portfolio website. He tells great stories from his career in the book, too.
