Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers

"Now, in this entertaining, revelatory book, James W. Hall reveals how bestsellers work, using twelve twentieth-century blockbusters as case studies—including The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird and Jaws. From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in The Hunt for Red October, and Opus Dei in The Da Vinci Code, to vivid representations of the American Dream and its opposite—the American Nightmare—in novels like The Firm and The Dead Zone, Hall identifies the common features of mega-bestsellers. Including fascinating and little-known facts about some of the most beloved books of the last century, Hit Lit is a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love."

- Penguin Random House

James W. Hall indicates successful strategies for both fiction and nonfiction work.

Hit Lit talks you through oft-seen tropes, many of which you were probably already planning on including in your story. You learn how these tropes were successfully utilized through in-depth analyses of famous works, so navigating this book may be difficult without prior familiarity with the works that James W. Hall includes. While confined to examples from the twentieth century, the tips you'll pick up are sure to be helpful for making a modern bestseller as well.