Stephen King
I've been reading Stephen King's work since I was a kid. I've always been a horror fan and King's work was the most famous, most accessible tales out there. I loved King's stories of monsters and bloody death and rotten, shambling things creeping in the night. As I grew older and became horribly pretentious in college, I turned away from King's work. Sophisticated people don't read Stephen King in college. Sophisticated people read complex Russian novels that are intellectually challenging and are as much fun as watching paint dry. Sophisticated people don't read stories about families trapped in a supermarket besieged by Lovecraftian monsters. Sophisticated people read novels about sensitive people thoughtfully contemplating their lives. Smart people don't read for fun, they read to be enlightened.
Some years later, I rediscovered Stephen King again and discovered that his stories had ''depth''. They are written in a comfortable, conversational tone that entice with their intimacy. The characterization has tremendous depth and honesty. King comes from Maine and he draws beautifully from his home to create an eerie beautiful world of Northeastern menace. That's not to say he's perfect; a lot of his books can go on too long and several have deus ex machina endings, but he's an important voice in American fiction.
"The devil's voice is sweet to hear."
Stephen King is one of the most popular novelist in the world. He's won dozens of literary awards, routinely tops the bestseller lists, has had dozens of movies made from his work, and maintained his position for over 30 years. For a man who has been accused of being little more than a pulp fiction hack, he's received the National Book Award's lifetime achievement award for his contribution to American literature. King's work has a huge impact on modern American literature and he's earned acclaim from both genre fans and the intellectual elite. King is best known for his terror tales. Inspired by EC Comics ''Tales From The Crypt'' and classic horror writers like Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury, Stephen King got famous scaring the crap out of readers around the world. While he's been pigeonholed as a horror writer, he's done straight literature, science fiction, crime, fantasy, and other genres. He's got around fifty novels and short story collections under his belt and shows no sign of stopping.
For new readers, King's most famous works tend to the novels and stories he wrote during the 70s and 80s: ''The Stand, The Shining, Misery, Night Shift, Carrie, Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot, Cujo, It'', and many other. These stories earned him his audience with their fusion of strong characterization and EC Comicsnovel fantasy epic that ties in all of King's work into one large shared universe. The ''Dark Tower'' books are at the heart of everything King's created and its completion has brought him a resurgence of fan interest.
One of the most interesting thing about King's career is the creation of Richard Bachman, his pseudonym. At the time Bachman was created, King was at the height of his fame and he wanted find out whether his success was due his writing skills or to the marketing acumen of his publishers. He wrote a handful of dark science fiction and horror books, including ''Rage, The Long Walk'' (my favorite King book), ''Thinner, The Running Man,'' and ''Roadwork'' before being outed. He has since returned to the pseudonym on occasion in order to release books that are outside his traditional style. Most of his old books are still in print with the exception of ''Rage'', a dark tale about an angry kid taking his class hostage. Copies of the book have been linked to real-life school shooting incidents and King has asked that the book not be reprinted.
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