Introductions

I think it's a great credit to Stephen King that I often enjoy his personal notes on a book as much as the book itself. This usually comes in the form of an introduction or afterword. The chatty introduction at the beginning of night Shift is a personal favorite. The first I read was the two part introduction to The Stand. King powerfully explained why he was issuing a new version of the book, and even asked that part of the introduction be read before the purchase. That's actually pretty bold.

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Most recently the introduction to Nightmares and Dreamscapes caught my attention. King not only admitted to believing just about anything. . . but revealed that if there were to be anymore collections they would have to contain all new stuff since he was dipping deep into his reserves.

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These introductions have also included books on tape. (Yes, they started out on TAPE not CD). I remember listening with interest as King nervously gave an introduction to the Gunslinger and explained why it is a benefit when an author reads his own work.

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These introductions are much more interesting than the common interview. Interviews tread over the same questions and get, frankly, boring. But King has the ability to sit you down and talk right to you. Just move that interviewer out of the way and it gets a lot better.

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The explanation "Why i was Richard Bachman" was wonderful! And I even enjoyed the note at the end of Dreamcatcher explaining that the book had been written out by hand with a pen.

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Of course, you have to get used to some things when you read an introduction by King.

1. Your name is now "constant reader."

2. King is more transparent than most artist. It can be unnerving.

3. King assumes you agree with him and his views on life.

4. King is not about to give you a normal introduction full of typical "thank you's."

King's introductions are strong enough to resell books. That's how they got those paperback copies of Kings early books to be repackaged and sold as oversized paperbacks. King fans will buy a book again for a new introduction (like, uh, Stephen King Goes To The Movies).

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If King never gave us On Writing, there would still be a pretty easy means of putting together an autobiography just by his introductions.