Hailey has been one of the pioneers of the contemporary "crisis" novel. In addition to relying on the thrill of danger to capture an audience, the disaster novel genre has focused attention on institutions that affect the lives of many people, such as hotels and airports. For the sake of good fiction, and perhaps as part of his views of modern society, Hailey has been critical of the incompetence of the people and bureaucracies that run the institution. Some people argue that writers like Hailey have unfairly portrayed these institutions, and in doing so have stymied their effectiveness; other people think the criticism is timely and well deserved. To what extent are novelists justified in taking liberties with facts to suit their story? After all, everyone knows it's only fiction.

1. What techniques does Hailey use to capture the excitement and intensity of life in a big...