Stephen Edwin King (1947- )
Author
70 years old today, the latest movie of his books drawing huge, fright-seeking crowds, Maine resident Stephen King could be resting on his laurels. Instead, he’s cranking out new doorstop books yearly and taking the defense of Literature against the depredations of popular fiction factory James Patterson and rock star writers like Stephenie Meyer and E.L. James.
Raised in straightened circumstances after his father left to buy some cigarettes and never returned, Stephen King graduated the University of Maine in 1970. Unable to get a teaching job, he wrote stories for men’s magazines, most of them later collected in the volume, Night Shift.
His 1973 novel, Carrie, became such a frustration and disappointment he tossed out the manuscript. His wife retrieved it and persuaded him to submit it. He got a $2,500 advance; it became a bestseller. The subsequent paperback rights earned him $400,000 alone.
Over the next forty years, King produced some sixty novels and over 200 short stories, under his own name and- a few- as Richard Bachman. When that nom de plume was discovered, he declared the alter ego had died of “death by pseudonym.”
His books have been turned into movies and television miniseries; Carrie has been done twice. King’s achievement is more noteworthy in that for a good portion of the late 1970s and ‘80s, he was a serious drinker who, in 2000 told an interviewer he could barely remember writing Cujo.
King’s formula is to crank out 2000 words a day, without fail. In pain after being struck by a van while walking in 1999, King announced in 2002 he was retiring from writing, but that didn’t last long.
His work has sold an estimated 350 million copies worldwide and has won him much popular, if not critical acclaim. A 2003 National Book Award, in particular, drew scathing reactions from some of the nation's’ leading highbrow lit critics. King has also won an O’ Henry Award for short story writing, a Shirley Jackson Award, an Edgar, and the 204 National Medal of Arts.
Wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, King and his wife donate around $4 million a year to libraries, fire departments, schools and arts organizations; a foundation is also a consistent supporter of Maine entities. His wife, Tabitha has published nine novels on her own; two of his sons are also successful writers.
King has become a vocal counter-tweeter to President Trump, and is becoming a legend for his feuds with other writers. James Patterson’s work he has dismissed as “a terrible writer who’s also very successful” and in April he chided the world’s richest author,
The blurb on James Patterson's latest book is from...James Patterson!— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 7, 2017
Patterson's stock response has for years, been,
“He's taken shots at me for years. It's fine, but my approach is to do the opposite with him—to heap praise."
He did, however, co-author a book titled The Murder of Stephen King, “the story of a psychotic fan re-enacting the murders from King’s book with the goal of eventually killing King himself.” Just before publication in 2016, Patterson decided not to publish it.
Nor is Patterson alone on King’s Mikado-like little list. In a 2013 Guardian interview, he covered the waterfront of his rivals,
dismissing the Twilight franchise as "tweenager porn" and calling The Hunger Games dull and derivative.
More predictably, King, who is about to release his 56th novel, is less than impressed by Fifty Shades of Grey, although he does have praise for JK Rowling's "fabulous" non-Harry Potter debut, The Casual Vacancy and compared her style to that of the late Tom Sharpe.
In an interview in the Guardian's Weekend magazine, the 65-year-old author said he had read Twilight, among other modern titles, out of professional interest, and had been underwhelmed. "They're really not about vampires and werewolves. They're about how the love of a girl can turn a bad boy good."
"I read Twilight and didn't feel any urge to go on with her. I read The Hunger Games and didn't feel an urge to go on. It's not unlike The Running Man, which is about a game where people are actually killed and people are watching: a satire on reality TV.
"I read Fifty Shades Of Grey and felt no urge to go on. They call it mommy porn, but it's not really mommy porn. It is highly charged, sexually driven fiction for women who are, say, between 18 and 25. But a golden age of horror? I wouldn't say it is. I can't think of any books right now that would be comparable to The Exorcist."
King declared himself a fan of the "amazingly good" Donna Tartt, but criticised her workrate. "She's dense, she's allusive. She's a gorgeous storyteller," he said. "But three books in 30 years? That makes me want to go to that person and grab her by the shoulders and look into her face and say: 'Do you realise how little time you have in the scheme of things?' "
More predictably, King, who is about to release his 56th novel, is less than impressed by Fifty Shades of Grey, although he does have praise for JK Rowling's "fabulous" non-Harry Potter debut, The Casual Vacancy and compared her style to that of the late Tom Sharpe.
In an interview in the Guardian's Weekend magazine, the 65-year-old author said he had read Twilight, among other modern titles, out of professional interest, and had been underwhelmed. "They're really not about vampires and werewolves. They're about how the love of a girl can turn a bad boy good."
"I read Twilight and didn't feel any urge to go on with her. I read The Hunger Games and didn't feel an urge to go on. It's not unlike The Running Man, which is about a game where people are actually killed and people are watching: a satire on reality TV.
"I read Fifty Shades Of Grey and felt no urge to go on. They call it mommy porn, but it's not really mommy porn. It is highly charged, sexually driven fiction for women who are, say, between 18 and 25. But a golden age of horror? I wouldn't say it is. I can't think of any books right now that would be comparable to The Exorcist."
King declared himself a fan of the "amazingly good" Donna Tartt, but criticised her workrate. "She's dense, she's allusive. She's a gorgeous storyteller," he said. "But three books in 30 years? That makes me want to go to that person and grab her by the shoulders and look into her face and say: 'Do you realise how little time you have in the scheme of things?' "
Henry Bemis Books is a Stephen King enthusiast, and we are celebrating his birthday with a half-off deal on some of our collection of King first editions.
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