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I'm French and it's not easy for me to say in english simply this book is very important for the history of narration. It's not a basic book about the three-act structure. It's not a "how to book" with a little formula and a couple of advice without interest for a real writer. I'm a screenwriter in my country and I read a lot of books on writing - maybe hundred. Generally, it's always the same recipe again and again: A story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end; a main character with a goal, then plenty of obstacles in a middle, and a climax at the end, and so on. OK, and after that? You are in front of your blank page and... Nothing! Just theory! With this book it's very different. There are many techniques (real techniques, practical techniques) and a real point of view about what the narration should be in general. What's a story? How to write something clever - not only with "suspens", "mystery", or "action" - but with meaning! How to develop your theme, your values, your moral, through your story, step by step. How to write something with your voice, your unique voice, your emotion, your personality, and very important: your own structure!!! I don't know if John Truby is a "guru" or something. But I know John Truby is a great "essayist" on writing. John Truby knows his subject very well and you can feel it, page after page. All serious writers should read this book, a French is telling you. Good reading Marc Herpoux