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Thrill Me
Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction | Benjamin Percy
15 posts | 8 read | 2 reading | 23 to read
Bold new essays on how to craft a thrilling read--in any genre--from the bestselling author of The Dead LandsAnyone familiar with the meteoric rise of Benjamin Percy's career will surely have noticed a certain shift: After writing two short-story collections and a literary novel, he delivered the werewolf thriller Red Moon and the postapocalyptic epic The Dead Lands. Now, in his first book of nonfiction, Percy challenges the notion that literary and genre fiction are somehow mutually exclusive. The title essay is an ode to the kinds of books that make many readers fall in love with fiction: science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, horror, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin to Stephen King. Percy's own academic experience banished many of these writers in the name of what is "literary" and what is "genre." Then he discovered Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, and others who employ techniques of genre fiction while remaining literary writers. In fifteen essays on the craft of fiction, Percy looks to disparate sources such as Jaws, Blood Meridian, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to discover how contemporary writers engage issues of plot, suspense, momentum, and the speculative, as well as character, setting, and dialogue. An urgent and entertaining missive on craft, Thrill Me brims with Percy's distinctive blend of anecdotes, advice, and close reading, all in the service of one dictum: Thrill the reader.
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Heathertruett
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This was a great read!

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KathyWheeler
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Pickpick

Benjamin Percy, to my mind anyway, wrote one of the best werewolf books ever — Red Moon — so I was interested in his take on fiction writing. I‘m not a writer, but his advice seems excellent to me. He talks about valuing story over everything else — every literary device a writer uses should work in service to the story. I think every writer can benefit from this book.

vivastory I really enjoyed this book. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak in person, don't pass on it. His voice is unbelievably deep. 4y
KathyWheeler @vivastory He seems interesting; I‘d love to hear him speak. I think his writing process, as described in this book, is really interesting and complicated. (edited) 4y
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valeriegeary
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Powell's was having a sale. What's a litten to do? 🤷 #treatyoshelf #sorrynotsorry

Jee_HookedOnBookz You did the right thing! 😊👍🏼💪 5y
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HollyLynWalrath
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DivaDiane Nice one. 6y
CoffeeNBooks Welcome to Litsy! 🎉 6y
julesG Welcome to Litsy! 6y
CarolynM Welcome to Litsy 🌼 6y
Jess7 Welcome to Litsy! 🤗📖 6y
11 likes1 stack add5 comments
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OwenBanner
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Hola! I‘ve been writing a bit of microfiction/poetry lately over on medium.com/@OwenBanner and thought I‘d share some of it with you. This one‘s called “Darling Tony”. I hope this shot of lit gets your heart beating a little faster. #microfiction #poetry #litsyauthor #shortstory #thriller

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annahenke
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Really loving this book of essays on writing with contemporary examples and writing wisdom. #writersonwriting #essays

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Crafted from lectures on writing, this series of essays on the various aspects of the writing craft are funny, learned, and tremendously useful. I haven‘t written in quite a long time and this book makes me want to start again. This one‘s a keeper.

hyacinth This cover is so cool! 6y
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Hooked_on_books
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While my underlining needs some work, this quote is still great. Percy has a lot to offer in this book, both good humor and useful info on writing.

AlaMich “Yosemite Sam on your ass.” 🤣🤣🤣 Or a huge tattoo of the Grinch on her arm, as the dental assistant at my dentist‘s office does. 6y
Hooked_on_books @AlaMich Oh no! Have you ever asked her if alcohol was involved? 😂 6y
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vivastory
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ValerieAndBooks He has a good point there!! 6y
ReadingEnvy Haha I'm going to AWP for the first time this year so I'll be prepared now! 6y
ReadingEnvy To be fair musicology suffers the same lingo issue. 6y
vivastory I went in 2009 in Chicago. I actually really enjoyed it, not because of the panels, but it allowed me to meet a lot of poets I admired at the time when I was reading mostly poetry. Where will the next one be? @ReadingEnvy 6y
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DAlexWard
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Indispensable book for those looking to hone their genre working craft. So accessible and inspirational! Quite possibly the best craft book ever. #Nanowrimo #WritersToolbox

CrowCAH Welcome to Litsy! 😁 6y
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GiveMeYourTeeth
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readinginthedark Oooooh! 7y
12 likes1 comment
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Graywolfpress
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👻Happy Halloween! Find out how your favorite scary and thrilling tales are crafted in Benjamin Percy's THRILL ME!🎃

Nafiza This has been amazing help in my writing. 7y
63 likes12 stack adds1 comment
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JasonMetz
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JoshCook
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I don't read a lot for books on the craft of writing, but I trust Graywolf as a publisher and Perch is an interesting writer to me. I might write a longer piece for my blog called "Benjamin Percy Might Not Like My Book & That's OK," because we h as very some fundamental disagreements about the role & value of style in writing. But there is still a lot of overlap & a lot of dialogue between our positions.

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Waynegjr
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"Toss out the worst elements of genre and literary fiction--and merge the best we might then create a new taxonomy, so that when you walk into a bookstore, the stock is divided into 'Stories that suck' and 'Stories that will make your mind and heart explode from their goodness."

Simona @Waynegjr It would be nice. 8y
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