“The book is important because it renews an interest in Dante.”
Eugenio Giani, President of the Italian Dante Society

“Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade, it succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, and to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head.”
Malcolm Gladwell

“I do something very intentional and specific in these books. And that is to blend fact and fiction in a very modern and efficient style, to tell a story.”
Dan Brown

We could surely debate whether Dan Brown is a good writer from a literary standpoint, but there’s can be little doubt that he’s a good storyteller. After writing seven snoozers from a sales point of view, he hit the jackpot with The Da Vinci Code, which has sold more than 81 million copies worldwide. According to Dan, the secret behind his success: “the human tendency for conspiracy.”

His newest thriller Inferno, just out, has already sold close to 10 million copies in 13 countries. The book took him a year to research and two years to write. Now that it’s out, people are flocking to Florence to follow in the frantic footsteps of hero Robert Langdon. The city’s beleaguered tourist industry is pulling out all the stops and creating “Dan Brown Tours” just as they did in Paris for The Da Vinci Code. Don’t you just love it: Dante called to life again in 2013 by an American guy in New Hampshire — it’s fantastic!

Overall, the consensus seems to be that Dan has written another page turner with all his classic hallmarks: codes, puzzles, shadowy organizations. How does he do it? First, he gets up at 4 AM, a habit he developed when he had two teaching jobs and had to write before his workday began. According to one article, he also “keeps an antique hourglass on his desk, so that he can stop briefly every hour to do push-ups, sit-ups and stretching exercises to keep his blood flowing. Brown does his writing in his loft. He has also told fans that he uses inversion therapy to help with writer’s block. He uses gravity boots and says, “hanging upside down seems to help me solve plot challenges by shifting my entire perspective.” Wow, definitely food for thought. Write on.