Member Review
Review by
Chris H, Reviewer
Stephen King? King Stephen, more like! The American author was born in Portland, Maine in 1947 and so is very nearly 75 now.
He's been churning out short stories (often longer than most people's novels) and novels (very often huge) for about fifty years now and shows no sign of stopping. Most of them could be defined as horror, others could be defined as science fiction, fantasy or psychological thrillers. Many have been made into memorable films.
Perhaps you know some of them? Carrie, his first, was about a teenage girl whose mum is a religious maniac and who can burn things (or people) when she gets angry. The 1976 film version remains truly horrifying. What else? Salem's Lot is about a town which gets overrun by vampires. The novel It (a big one) - It is literally the name of the book is about a sort of malevolent supernatural clown who torments a group of friends over a period of thirty years. The Stand (another very long one) is about an apocalyptic plague which ravages the world. Christine is about a killer car who comes to possess its owner. The Shining is about an alcoholic caretaker who tries to murder his entire family after he becomes possessed by the evil spirit of the hotel he is working in (it makes sense when you read it). Misery is about an author who becomes the prisoner of an obsessive fan.
You get the idea anyway. There are lots and lots of books. King's own life - already detailed to some extent in his own fine memoir, On Writing - is itself pretty interesting. He's had lots of drug and alcohol problems over the years and was very nearly killed in a serious road accident just over twenty years ago. In short, this is a good biography.
He's been churning out short stories (often longer than most people's novels) and novels (very often huge) for about fifty years now and shows no sign of stopping. Most of them could be defined as horror, others could be defined as science fiction, fantasy or psychological thrillers. Many have been made into memorable films.
Perhaps you know some of them? Carrie, his first, was about a teenage girl whose mum is a religious maniac and who can burn things (or people) when she gets angry. The 1976 film version remains truly horrifying. What else? Salem's Lot is about a town which gets overrun by vampires. The novel It (a big one) - It is literally the name of the book is about a sort of malevolent supernatural clown who torments a group of friends over a period of thirty years. The Stand (another very long one) is about an apocalyptic plague which ravages the world. Christine is about a killer car who comes to possess its owner. The Shining is about an alcoholic caretaker who tries to murder his entire family after he becomes possessed by the evil spirit of the hotel he is working in (it makes sense when you read it). Misery is about an author who becomes the prisoner of an obsessive fan.
You get the idea anyway. There are lots and lots of books. King's own life - already detailed to some extent in his own fine memoir, On Writing - is itself pretty interesting. He's had lots of drug and alcohol problems over the years and was very nearly killed in a serious road accident just over twenty years ago. In short, this is a good biography.
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