Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Benjamin Percy has given writers of fiction everywhere a gift with Thrill Me. It reads somewhere between a career coming-of-age memoir, a nuts and bolts writing guide, and a certain Christmas when your one weird uncle sits you down to give you some tough love advice about life that all turns out to be true. As a teacher of writing and a writer myself, I’ve read a whole lot of books on writing craft, and I will confidently laud Thrill Me as one of the most enjoyable, applicable, smart, and motivating writing guides out there. Percy’s voice is relatable and fun, while also sage and seasoned. There are dozens of game-changing takeaways here that I can’t wait to try in my own writing. This book will leave my shelf often, accumulating multiple colors of highlighter ink and no doubt a crease in the cover. I almost don’t want anyone else to read it because I’d prefer to hoard all of Percy’s great advice to myself. Fiction writers: buy this book, read it, and thrill us!