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HIT LIT

Name: HIT LIT
Author: James W. Hall
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7095-1

CRACKING THE CODE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'S BIGGEST BESTSELLERS

by James W. Hall ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2012

Passionately and thoroughly entertaining.

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What makes a bestselling novel? Longtime teacher and prolific thriller writer Hall (Dead Last, 2011, etc.) explores how certain books strike literary paydirt.

The author animatedly shares a distinct fascination with books and reading that has taught him “secrets about the real world that I could discover nowhere else.” Inspired and developed by a popular fiction course he began teaching more than two decades ago, Hall examines 12 of the most successful novels of the 20th century and “reverse-engineer[s]” them, mining their separate defining qualities and their comparative appeal to readers. Chosen for their dexterity and entertainment potential with consideration for gender diversity, location, familial dysfunction and their “strikingly similar techniques and themes,” they range from melodramas like Gone with the Wind, Peyton Place and Valley of the Dolls to suspense/horror hits The Exorcist, Jaws and The Dead Zone, as well as classics like To Kill A Mockingbird and The Godfather. For readers, Hall writes, an emotional connection with a central character is paramount. Social taboos, time constraints and the “threat of danger” also draw (and hold) attention, as does secrecy and mystical mystery (see The Da Vinci Code and The Exorcist). Hall writes that the graphic sex in Peyton Place and Valley of the Dolls takes on a deeper adulterous subtext in The Bridges of Madison County and The Firm. Similarly, the author partially attributes the runaway successes of The Hunt for Red October and The Godfather to the irresistibility of the American Dream. Referential and cleverly elucidated, the book raises many good points about the precise methodology of bestselling novels—Hall’s own work included.

Passionately and thoroughly entertaining.

Pub Date: April 10, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-8129-7095-1

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: March 4, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BIG FINISH
by James W. Hall

- BOOK REVIEW
GOING DARK
by James W. Hall

- BOOK REVIEW
DEAD LAST
by James W. Hall

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.