Hit Lit Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF WHAT MAKES A BESTSELLER IN THIS ENTERTAINING, REVELATORY GUIDE TO THE COMMON FEATURES OF STORIES MILLIONS LOVE What do Michael Corleone, Jack Ryan, and Scout Finch have in common? Creative writing professor and thriller writer James W. Hall knows, and now, in this fun, witty, and thought-provoking book, he reveals how bestsellers work: how they hook us, get us on the edge of our seats, and keep us up at night until we've turned the last page. Using twelve of the biggest bestselling novels of the twentieth century as case studies-including The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird,and Jaws-Hall offers a fascinating discussion of some of the common features of popular literature. From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in The Hunt for Red October,Opus Dei in The Da Vinci Code,and the brotherhood of shark hunters in Jaws;to pivotal sexual secrets like those in To Kill a Mockingbirdand The Bridges of Madison County;to an abundance of esoteric factoids that, paradoxically, pull the reader deeper into the story, Hall gives us a tantalizing glimpse into the DNA of a bestseller. Featuring fascinating and little-known facts about bestsellers of the last century, Hit Litis a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love.

James W. Hall is the author of seventeen novels, four books of poetry, two short-story collections, and a book of essays. He’s also the winner of the Edgar and Shamus awards.