Stephen King

Years ago I took a class called "Ethnic Literature where we read Down These Mean Streets and Love Medicine. We were allowed to choose the subject of our final essay and, and the professor rejected my choice, Ayn Rand, saying that would be like letting me write about Stephen King, "Ayn Rand is not literature, or even good writing".

Though she didn't say it, the rejection had more to do with AR's politics than her writing abilities. AR was, after all, Russian by birth so she would've fit into the "ethnic literature" catagory.

Having read most of AR's writing, though, I can understand some of the complaints. While I wouldn't change much about The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged could use some serious editing. It's not that it's a long book; it's just that so much of it is not needed. I could chop out at least a quarter of it without losing a thing. Plus, despite what she or anyone else has said, nearly all of her post-Atlas writing had a very bitter tone to it.

But anyway, back to SK- at the time I had only read The Shining and Gerald's Game, both of which I liked.

Over the past few years I've picked up a few of his books from the library and borrowed others from friends.

Carrie I don't know what I expected but I was a little disappointed. Maybe because this was the big book that started his carreer.

Salem's Lot Again, not his best, I think, but I read it in two days. I'd even read it again.

Pet Sematary The movie was one of the scariest I've seen. I think a lot of that is because the subject matter itself is so upsetting. I couldn't imagine being a parent and reading it or seeing the movie.

Christine Fun, fun, fun

Misery I enjoyed it except that it made me crave pills big-time.

Delores Claibourne As good as it was, I can't help liking the movie better. I think I read somewhere that the part was written for her. And to this day if I ask my brother for money he'll say "I'd really like to help you, Delores, but all my money's tied up in cash".

Lisey's Story I read it one Sunday this past summer, which is always a bad idea. I get involved in the story and in that world and feel very freaked out afterward. The same thing happened with The Regulators and Desperation. Luckily a friend called an hour after I finished and said she was coming for a visit so that helped me snap out of it. I noticed this book got very good reviews, even from the New York Times.

I also read some of the other novels and short story collections; my favorite was Night Shift- just about every story in it is good.

My other favorite SK book is On Writing. I've read it about three times and if my copy was here I'd probably read it again. It's like you're in English class and SK is sitting at a desk Spaulding Gray-style and talking about life & writing.

And I love that kind of thing. I'm not a writer but I love reading about writing and "the creative process". I can't get enough of it.

A lot of people put SK in a catagory of "airport bookstore" writer, and that bothers me. I think it's a tremendous feat to write an entire book that someone else will want to read all the way through. Really. Haven't you started a lot of books- supposedly great books- and found them unreadable?