Hit Lit
by James Hall
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
50%
Critic Reviews: 13
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
88%
Reader Ratings: 16
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Synopsis
DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF WHAT MAKES A MEGA-BESTSELLER IN THIS ENTERTAINING, REVELATORY GUIDE What do Michael Corleone, Jack Ryan, and Scout Finch have in common? Creative writing professor and thriller writer James W. Hall knows. Now, in this entertaining, revelatory book, he 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... more
About James Hall
Published: April 10, 2012 by Random House
Genre: Business & Economics, Education & Reference. Non-fiction. 336 pages
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- All Critics: 13
- Positive: 8
- Negative: 5
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Word Up Nerd Up | 27 Mar 2012
Virtually a book club in a book, Hall’s warm style feels like you are discussing the latest read with your best friend.
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Kirkus Reviews | 15 Mar 2012
Referential and cleverly elucidated, the book raises many good points about the precise methodology of bestselling novels—Hall’s own work included.
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NPR | 17 Apr 2012
What Metalious and her kin in best-sellerdom really possess, as Hall explains so well in Hit Lit, is the power to connect with readers through their hearts and guts as much as, if not more than, their minds.
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The Wall Street Journal | 13 Apr 2012
Mr. Hall, who writes with a light, amused touch, doesn't pay much attention to the literary quality of the books in his survey, and he can sound dismissive of writers who vastly outshine the multimillionaire club.
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Devourer of Books | 23 Apr 2012
Hit Lit is an endlessly fascinating look at some of the bestselling books of the last century, and how they got that way. Highly recommended
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Story Treasury | 11 Apr 2012
A writer’s research should be good, but it’s hard to believe facts are a factor in bestsellers. They add details and they are important. But people don’t read novels to learn.
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Night Owl Reviews | 3 May 2012
All I can say is James W. Hall “gets” it and has been generous enough to share it with us.
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George Kelley | 30 Apr 2012
If you’re interested in books and authors who climb to the top of the best sellers’ lists, Hit Lit has plenty of analysis and interesting facts to illustrate how the process works.
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Publishers Weekly | 28 May 2012
Hall's attempts to reason out why we love what we love (and why it sells) often seem to merit an adjective more usually lobbed at the fiction he writes about--superficial.
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Nicki Markus | 25 Mar 2012
There was nothing wrong with it as such, but it really didn't inspire me in anyway
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Word Nerds | 10 Apr 2012
Sometimes fascinating, often predictable, Hit Lit is unfortunately tediously drawn out.
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