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 and . From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in Opus Dei in to vivid representations of the American Dream and its opposite—the American Nightmare—in novels like 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, is a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love.