Stephen King

Stephen King (September 21, 1947 - ) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, memoirist, graphic literature writer, and singular force to be reckoned with in publishing, book selling, and popular entertainment. He is the author of 67 novels (at the present moment) and over 200 short stories. His range of style and subject is underrated by assumptions of reviewers and readers who prefer (or abhor) one “Stephen King” over another “Stephen King.” I would suggest that there are few writers, no matter what pretensions they or their readers have, who have provided a more comprehensive analysis of post-WWII America into the 21st Century. King pursues relentlessly our fears, our paranoias, our comforts, our dreams, our nightmares, our obsessions, our moments of grace. He is breathtakingly familiar with our materialistic dependencies, sometimes to a satirical extent, sometimes as a secular hymn to his love of American culture. Always, however, King is curious about people, the everyday remarkable and interesting people who live in his and our world. He sees how they act, imagines what they think, deduces what they believe — and then he tests them. And us.

I remember seeing the all-black-but-one-red-blood-drop cover of ‘Salem’s Lot in a book kiosk in Dulles International Airport when I was a kid. That hooked me. It is still one of the scariest books I know. As a bookseller I have sold King for 40 years as of 2022. He never gets old. Enjoy — if you dare.