This is a pretty neat article by Deborah Marko at the Daily Journal. Titled, "Vineland High School students write letters to King of horror," Marko writes about a special education class that has been reading Misery. of course, getting students to read can always be difficult! However, Lynne Lera has discovered that many of the kids love reading King!
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They are not only reading Stephen King, they are writing to him. The article includes a couple of letters from the students to King. They are wonderful!
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I identify with this pretty deeply, since I did not like to read as a teenager. I wanted to write! However, Charles Dickens and later Stephen King made major break throughs for me. Dickens because we had to read Great Expectations -- but King because I was so totally engrossed in the novel.
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If you go to the link, check out the comments section. There is always someone saying King is not appropriate for young people. I completely disagree! King writes about the world we live in, about people we feel we know -- that's why he connects. The stories resonate because the people in them feel real. I also think some of the "naughtiness" of reading Stephen King makes if more fun!
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Consider what a student encounters in a King novel: Strong characters, unique storyline, hero's who are not perfect, villains who are not totally evil. I remember our English teacher being thrilled out of his mind that we got to read Kats Cradle, by Kurt Vongut. "This is stuff we used to read for fun!" He exclaimed. And we ha that same "naughty" feeling reading Catcher in the Rye. But there is always someone anxious to ban Huck Finn, Catcher, and Mr. King.
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http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011103300328
1978 The Stand Journal 5
The journal entries have spoilers. these are not reviews, they are my thoughts as I read the books. I am assuming you have also read the books.
. Undiscovered Country: Chapter 35
. I thought I knew the Stand pretty well. Cover to cover. And this most recent reading hasn't landed many surprises.
. Often I have been most captivated by how King writes. For instance, Larry watches Nadine ride off on a motorcycle. But King describes the movement in terms of sound. It was very fluid and natural. But if I had been writing the scene, I would have only connected visually -- his watching the bike ride further and further away. King accomplishes what he needs completely by sound.
. You can't really blame me for having skimmed it the first few times, the chapter is massive. It seems with large chapters, sometimes I start skipping and dipping -- as if it is simply a course to complete.
. I met someone today I had forgotten all about. In fact, he is so far out of my thoughts I can't remember what happens to him. It's a kid named Joe. I know nothing! It's a delight to discover a character you had previously breezed by.
. Joe is a boy who has regressed in his development since the plague. He trusts Nadine and at least at the novel's current point, he poses a minor threat to Larry Underwood.
. Tone, War Of The Worlds:
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The tone of this chapter reminds me very much of H.G. Well's: War of the Worlds. Actually, it reminds me of the 1938 radio drama by Orson Wells! Just the tone. A man wanders across a destroyed earth and begins to meet other survivors. Honestly, it has very much the same feeling.
. This is just to prove what happens when you start reading into things -- the name of the town they come to is Wells. I kid you not! Come on, H.G., Orson and now the name of the town! M-O-O-N, that spells Wells.
. Heady
. I love the way King can get inside a characters head. As Larry travels, he is on Herold and Fran's heels. Larry develops a respect for Herold, his boldness, his ingenuity. He imagines Herold to be a common sense farmer. Of course, he's off by a mile!
. "Lovesick or no, Milky Way freak or not, Larry had gained a lot of respect for Herold, almost a liking in advance. He had already developed his own mental picture of Harold. Probably in his mid-thirties, a farmer maybe, tall and suntanned, skinny, not too bright in the book mental sense, maybe, but plenty canny. He grinned. Building up a mental picture of someone you had never seen was a fool's game, because they were never the way you had imagined."
. These are the kind of details that didn't get snipped out of the Stand, 1978. King resisted the urge to chop up character development, and instead took his cuts in big lumps. Wise, in my opinion.
Building Unique Collection, Part 3 Where To look
Here are a few places I have ahd success in finding Stephen King items.
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The problem with ebay is you have to know what to look for. So, obviously, if you know what you're after, ebay it! (But don't buy signed things on ebay.)
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Betts Bookstore always has a great list of things on their website that is fun to dig through. also, the prices are usually pretty good. I've found that when hunting something very specific, Dave at Betts was able to work magic.
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The problem with ebay is you have to know what to look for. So, obviously, if you know what you're after, ebay it! (But don't buy signed things on ebay.)
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Betts Bookstore always has a great list of things on their website that is fun to dig through. also, the prices are usually pretty good. I've found that when hunting something very specific, Dave at Betts was able to work magic.
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They should be your first stop for just about any item. There are a lot of stuff you'd never think of as well! Proof copies, signed items, magazines. How's this for interesting, I just saw posted a photo copied manuscript of Bag of Bones with this description: "Bag of Bones #3 typewritten manuscript (copy), in cardboard box." It's going for $35. http://www.bettsbooks.com/w95020ai.html
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Get on the mailing list of Cemetery Dance. They do a lot of their publicity by email, and have a lot of specials for returning customers. http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/SFNT
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Very Fine Books also has a lot of Stephen King signed books. http://www.veryfinebooks.com/
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It is also good to get on the Simon and Schuster email list. This is how I was able to buy a signed copy of Under The Dome. http://www.simonandschuster.com/
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Hodder and Stroughton is King's British publisher. http://www.hodder.co.uk/
Building A Unique Collection, Part 2: More Stuff
Foreign Editions:
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At some point, every King collector will have to decide if they want to collect the foreign editions. I generally don't. For me, it's just a space and money issue. One of those things that I'll get to some day!
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I do have a Salem's Lot Australia (paperback) and a hardcover first British edition of the Stand. And a book club edition of a British Tommyknockers. That's about it for me!
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There s a coveted "bootleg" Russian IT, "ES."
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Galley Proofs:
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Obviously these are sought after because they are one of a kind. I don't have any. Again, they're on my "some day" list. Some day when I'm rich. Find them at Betts bookstore.
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More Stuff:
Here are other King things people collect:
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At some point, every King collector will have to decide if they want to collect the foreign editions. I generally don't. For me, it's just a space and money issue. One of those things that I'll get to some day!
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I do have a Salem's Lot Australia (paperback) and a hardcover first British edition of the Stand. And a book club edition of a British Tommyknockers. That's about it for me!
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There s a coveted "bootleg" Russian IT, "ES."
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Galley Proofs:
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Obviously these are sought after because they are one of a kind. I don't have any. Again, they're on my "some day" list. Some day when I'm rich. Find them at Betts bookstore.
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More Stuff:
Here are other King things people collect:
- Large print.
- Magnets
- Soundtracks
- T-Shirts
- Anthologies
- Manuscripts
- Screen plays
Hard to get stuff:
- The Green Mile hard cover set.
- The Stand "coffin" edition. Signed, leather bound in a wood box. (You would think it was the Bible!) I think this book only goes for around 2k. That might sound like a lot, but when you see the prices of some of the signed stuff -- it's not so crazy.
- My Pretty Pony. There are 2 unique editions. One an over sized (really over sized) edition in a red slip case. The other is in a strange lock-box like case that has a clock on it.
- Bachman books. All four of the paperbacks are worth the hunt. When it comes to Thinner, don't pay too much for the Book club edition -- it's worth about $5-20. I think I paid $5.
- The Plant. This is a novel King gave away as Christmas gifts. I don't think he ever finished it. I read that he decided it was too much like Little Shop of Horrors.
Building A Unique S.K. Collection, Part 1
The advice for anyone getting into Stephen King collecting is to start with first editions. That is a great place to start. I'm still hunting my first edition Carrie, Salem's Lot and Gunslinger!
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As you get a little deeper into collecting, you'll discover it is not hard to develop a collection that is absolutely unique. Why? Because there is so much Stephen King stuff out there! No two collections, even the super duper collections, are not the same. No one has everything Stephen King! In fact, I found myself wondering if Stephen King really has a complete Stephen King collection.
.If you look, you can find stuff that's special.
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Some suggestions:
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Here's some things I think are great for collecting and make your collection a little more unique.
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1. Some first editions really are worth their weight in gold. Carrie is one of those, and it doesn't seem to be THAT hard to find. I see a lot of ex-library copies out there. However, I am not a fan of the ex-library stuff. There is a Salem's Lot first edition with a famous mistake on the dust jacket regarding Father C. That's worth a blog post of its own, though. The price of first editions starts dropping with The Shining.
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2. Obviously, anything signed is desirable! His signature seems to increase the value of a book at least 100%. Under The Dome went for $75 special edition -- but a hefty $200 for the signed edition.
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3. Books signed by others. Anything signed by the author is a little more special. No, I don't know why! I like it, but I have yet to figure out why I think it's so cool. I have a signed Michael Collins book. Also a special edition of Talisman, signed by Peter Straub. The artist editions of the Dark Tower books are also pretty cool, and come signed by the author. I have a Dark Tower 7 signed by Whelan.
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4. I like to collect old magazines with King's stories in them. Of course, some the really early stuff I don't collect because. . . uh. . . they're in nudie mags! However, there is still a lot out there. King has written so many short stories and articles that have been published all over the place!
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I like to hunt down the original Dark Tower stories in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I was also excited to find a copy of X-Men Hero's Of Hope which included a contribution by King.
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5. Any special edition books are great. They're not all that hard to find, but they are far more valuable than mass produced first editions. So, the Talisman/Black House double edition in slip case is obviously a good find (and not that expensive). Some stuff is just impossible. Try finding a Cemetery Dance edition of From a Buick 8! I can't. Or how about the zipper edition of Skeleton Crew? What I'm saying is that when you have a chance to get a special book, snatch it up if the price is right.
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Lately Cemetery Dance has offered King books in special edition. Blockade Billy came with its own baseball card, which is neat. And they also have a great edition of Full Dark No Stars, which came with a slip case. So far, everything from Cemetery Dance has been very nice. I still wish Cemetery Dance would put out a special two volume edition of The Stand / Swan Song. Hehe.
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You can also hunt those red leather books. I have about five of them. Honestly, once I had a few, I decided not to continue hunting them. Other than the binding, there's nothing really all that awesome about them. I did spot an entire set -- the whole thing! -- on ebay. I meant to go back and bid, but I forgot. When I showed up 5 minutes too late, the huge lot had gone for $30. OUCH! I wept.
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6. Promotional stuff. Things like the Dark Tower Wizard And Glass booklet that was released with the Desperation/Regulators. Posters and all kinds of things the publisher sends book stores to hype a book.
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7. Introductions. I don't collect introductions by King, because there are so many out there! I don't have enough book shelves to do that. His introductions are always a lot of fun! I love his chatty style of talking right to the reader.
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8. Audio books. Earlier advice was that the audio books would have no value. That's still pretty true! There is little point in collecting the audio books. However, that's not universally true. The Stand and The Mist are both worth the hunt. Ebay often has The Stand on tape going for around $100-200.
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9. Odds and ends. You know, Magnets, book bags, book covers, documents, letters (letters by King can be very expensive). I have a bunch of court documents from King's lawsuit in the Lawnmower Man case. I got it in a huge grab bag of stuff from Betts bookstore. That thing was loaded with strange stuff! You can find a toy metal Christine, or a Christmas tree ordainment of King's House (that's a little strange, if you ask me!)
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10. Old publications about King. By that, I mean all those publications that were out before the Internet became our primary means of information. Stephen King had a pretty neat newspaper, called Castle Rock.
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Fan publications are always cool to find, though they may not have much actual "value" in terms of dollars. I enjoy them! There was a publication called The Red Letter. I don't know much about Red Letter, except that it was small and pretty interesting.
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There was also a publication called SKIN. It stands for Stephen King Information Network. It was in publicationf rom 1994 to 1995 and produced eighteen newsletters. Read more here: http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2009/09/history-of-skin.html
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11. Books about Stephen King. These are just all out fun. He may not like how many books have been written about him, but some of them are awesome! Try Bev Vincent's "Stephen King Companion" which has tons of reporductions fo original manuscripts. Also, Lilja's Library is a great print version of the website, including his reviews and interviews.
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I like just about anything by Stephen Spignesi, Michael Collins, Douglas Winter, and George Beahm. Beahm's biography "Stephen King, America's Best Loved Bogeyman" was very good. In fact, I wish he'd update it.
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Are Stephen King books a good investment?
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I think you should not buy Stephen King books as an investment. Of course, I don't buy gold, either!
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Here's the deal: Collect what makes you happy! If you're collecting only to resell, I don't know that the market is big enough for that. I suspect the super collectors end up selling their collections for a loss (but I don't know that!).
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Because I don't collect to resell, I open everything! That means, when something comes to me shrink wrapped, I open it up! Hey, I bought it to enjoy, not to sit wrapped up like it belongs in a store. I never feel bad cutting that shrink wrap off! Well, with the exception of Desperation/Regulators with the book light attached to it. So maybe the best way to say it is that collecting for profit is not a good route for me.
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So tell me, what do you like to collect? What pieces where you most excited to find?
Walken's best-reviewed flicks
San Francisco Chronicle has a neat article they did in collaboration with Rotten Tomatoes. "Christopher Walken's best-reviewed movies" ranks Walken's movies by their critical response.
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Walkin was awesome in the Dead Zone! In fact, I'm surprised Dead Zone didn't come in higher on the list. Ranking at 89%, the Chronicle The Dead Zone calls the 1983 movie "arguably the best Stephen King adaptation."
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/25/MVO01IHB5M.DTL
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Walkin was awesome in the Dead Zone! In fact, I'm surprised Dead Zone didn't come in higher on the list. Ranking at 89%, the Chronicle The Dead Zone calls the 1983 movie "arguably the best Stephen King adaptation."
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/25/MVO01IHB5M.DTL
UpComing Fangoria Stuffed Full Of S.K. Treats
picture: http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3926:first-look-fangoria-303-cover-and-contents&catid=60:announcements-contests&Itemid=168Fangoria has released a sneak peek of #303, due out this April. What's exciting is just how much Stephen King stuff is in there! It's almost bleeding Stephen King.
.Fangoria explains that the cover features a painted image of director John Carpenter. In the issue he talks "past and present career." #303 will also offer a "retrospective" on Christine. Right on the heels of King's recent comments about another certain hard to work with leading lady, Fangoria says, "Talk about a high-maintenance leading lady… Inside the Carpenter/King killer-car flick." hehe! I'm giddy with anticipation.
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That's not all! There is also an interview with Shelly Duvall on The Shining. Fangoria says, "Heeeeeere’s Wendy! Stanley Kubrick’s panicked Shining heroine speaks."
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http://www.fangoria.com/
Joe Hill at Strongville Library
Debbie Palmer at the Strongville Patch (Strongsville, Ohio) has an great article titled "Joe Hill gives fans a devil of a good time." The article is about Hill's Strongville appearance at the Strongville library, when he spoke to about 200 people.
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Hill is author of Heart-Shaped Box, Twentieth Century Ghosts and Horns, and a comic book series, Locke & Key.
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I like Joe Hill! No, I haven't read much by him -- because I still haven't thinned my Stephen King reading down much. But Hill is a class act. He broke into the publishing industry on his own, not using his dads fame. and there would be no resentment if he had! But Hill not only took the high road, he went the steep rout. But Hill doesn't appear to get sulky when people ask him about his parents. He seems to openly answer questions about his childhood, his mom and dad and offers some really neat personal insights.
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Here are some quotes I enjoyed, but the whole article is worth the read!
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Hill walked in wearing light-up red horns on his head, to the delight of his fans.
"You've gotta have your fun where you can get it," he shrugged.
"You've gotta have your fun where you can get it," he shrugged.
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"What kind of weird stories did you get at bedtime?" one fan asked.
"My dad is not the scary guy. We always loved his bedtime stories," Hill replied, noting they typically dealt with superheroes -- with a kid-titillating twist. "He always worked diarrhea into it."
"My dad is not the scary guy. We always loved his bedtime stories," Hill replied, noting they typically dealt with superheroes -- with a kid-titillating twist. "He always worked diarrhea into it."
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European Book Tour
I spotted this at Lilja's Library -- which is the all time best Stephen King website out there.
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The moderator of King's board posted the following:
“I’ve heard back from Steve, who’s given me the okay to pass along the information he’d shared last week when I’d asked about book tours. He told me he will be going to France (and probably Germany) for a book tour so it’s not a matter of “if,” but rather a matter of “when.” I’ll post updates as they become available.” http://liljas-library.com/
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Cool! I do wonder what wonderful story ideas he'll come back with.
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The moderator of King's board posted the following:
“I’ve heard back from Steve, who’s given me the okay to pass along the information he’d shared last week when I’d asked about book tours. He told me he will be going to France (and probably Germany) for a book tour so it’s not a matter of “if,” but rather a matter of “when.” I’ll post updates as they become available.” http://liljas-library.com/
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Cool! I do wonder what wonderful story ideas he'll come back with.
1945 Mildred Pierce on TCM
I do not think there is any classic-era actress I enjoy hating more than Joan Crawford. I just can't stand her. Really! And if you disagree, that's okay, because you just aren't going to take away my joy on this subject.
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Stephen King recently reviewed the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. It is a remake of a 1945 movie that starred Joan Crawford. You can catch Mildred Pierce on Saturday at 5pm (Pacific). Right after Lawrence of Arabia. Before Lawrence is The Land that Time Forgot. Just watch TCM all day! http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/321/Mildred-Pierce/
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Leonard Maltin gave the flick 3.5 out of 4 stars. I do not think Stephen King would be so generous.
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In his recent review of the HBO mini-series remake, Stephen King offered some great prose about the 1945 edition. Mostly his comments were about Joan Crawford, who he doesn't like much. Now that's a person really could be a character in a Stephen King novel!
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Explaining why Ingrid Bergman, Jennifer Jones and Gene Tierney seemed more likely to win the 1946 Academy Award for best actress, King explains that they were simply more likeable than dear Ms. Crawford.
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King bluntly explains, "Crawford was arrogant, overmannered, and difficult to work with. “I wouldn’t sit on her toilet,” Bette Davis once famously said."
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Arrogant she may have been; stupid she was not. Terrified of losing, she pretended to be sick on the big night. The film’s director, Michael Curtiz—originally dismayed to be saddled with such a difficult leading lady—accepted on her behalf. Crawford welcomed reporters into her bedroom only after her win was safely in the bag.
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King concludes with: "Winslet’s Mildred is a genuine star turn. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her." http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-20/stephen-king-reviews-hbos-mildred-pierce/
To get a real look at Joan Crawford, how about TCM's short with Christina Crawford. You might be familiar with her book -- Mommy Dearest! Anyway, Christina gives us this sweet bit of insight:
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"The act started long before she went out into public. The act started with her sitting at her dressing table putting on her make up. She would only have on her under garments. She would sit at this huge glass dressing table, wall to wall glass. Glass on her counter top, glass on her doors, glass on the entire wall. She would begin to put on the face of Joan Crawford. You could see her begin to take on that persona as the face took shape. I saw it a thousand times if I saw it once. By the time she was finished and then she put on her clothes and the ankle strap high heels, and out the door she went as "Joan Crawford."
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Joan was so over the top that if King ever did have a character like her, people would say it was unbelievable -- melodrama.
Twilight Zone Magazine February 1985
I like to time travel. Maybe it's just time surfing. Captain Kirk is able to time travel by sling shotting his space ship around the sun. I do not have a space ship. Of course, Marty McFly had a car that could leap through time. Geez that movie was fun! Stephen King's next novel is about time travel, but I'm not real clear yet on the means by which movement through time is actually accomplished. 
Also there is an ad for Robert McCammon's Usher's Passing. Headline, "King, Straub, and now Robert McCammon." The text reads, "Wildly enthusiastic reviews greeted Robert R. McCammon's recent bestseller, Mystery walk. Now, in this new novel, Usher's Passing, McCammon's dazzling imagination tracest he descendants of the infamous family of Edgar Allen Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.". . . it sold hardcover for 14:95
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Anyway, my means of time travel is old books and magazines. Actually, magazines are the best! A book stays focused on its subject, but a magazine gives you a full flavor of the time.
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So, via my Stephen King / Peter Straub edition of the Twilight Zone Magazine, I'm headed back to 1985. Come on, this is fun. Besides, I know half of you are at work right now anyway, and this has got to be a better trip than what your boss thinks you're doing.
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Advertizing Defines The Times
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Ads really define the times. No one in 1985 was begging you to visit their website, but there are a lot of book clubs to join.
Ads really define the times. No one in 1985 was begging you to visit their website, but there are a lot of book clubs to join.
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There is an ad for L. Ron Hubbard's new book, Battlefield Earth.
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Also there is an ad for Robert McCammon's Usher's Passing. Headline, "King, Straub, and now Robert McCammon." The text reads, "Wildly enthusiastic reviews greeted Robert R. McCammon's recent bestseller, Mystery walk. Now, in this new novel, Usher's Passing, McCammon's dazzling imagination tracest he descendants of the infamous family of Edgar Allen Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.". . . it sold hardcover for 14:95.
The back cover sports a full page, color ad for John Carpenters STARMAN. "In 1977 voyager II was launched into space, inviting all life forms int he universe to visit our planet. Get ready. Company's coming." Opens December 14 at a theater near you.
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By the way, there is a lot of hype in this magazine for the movie 2010. Even a full color article.
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Stories include:
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Nostalgia: "OLD DARK HOUSE FOR REND" by Ron Goulart. Did you see the movie of this? Old Dark House is a classic from 1932, directed by none other than James Whale, who also directed Frankenstein.
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"Changing Of The Guard" by Anne Serling, adapted from the teleplay by Rod Serling. I saw this episode! Oh yeah. . . I've seen them all.
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"The Time Wife" by Thomas Tolnay. "She looked exactly as his wife had looked twenty years ago. How could any man resist?" Here's a good line from the story, "I couldn't possibly tell my wife that there were two of her in the world." ha! that would be a problem.
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"Twisted Shadow" by Robert F. Funkley. "The garden was a cozy English world of serenity and peace -- all except a certain shadow that pointed the wrong way." This line here is pretty good: "She is being buried -- heaven protect her! Alive!"
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"Laughs! Thrills! Romance!!" by Ron Wolfe. "he had missed his chance for all of them -- and now it was too late."
"Laughs! Thrills! Romance!!" by Ron Wolfe. "he had missed his chance for all of them -- and now it was too late."
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"Legacy" by Leigh Essex. "A daughter inherits many things from her mother. . . and love may be the least of them."
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The Quest For The Talisman
The cover article, "Stephen King, Peter Straub & the Quest for The Talisman" was written by Douglas E. Winter. It closely mirrors his chapter in The Art Of Darkness.
.Winter is excited that the work was exchanged "electronically" by "telephone modem communication between their respective word processors." Today, we would go. . . "yah!" But I guess passing information electronically was high tech stuff in 1985. But actually, this information was being sent back and forth in 1982!
.On Thanksgiving of 1982 Kign and Straub met in Boston. Late that night they undertook the "great Thanksgiving putsch" and gave the book its finished structure.
.King notes that he read everything Mark Twain wrote. Everything! Of course, King says that a lot of what he wrote he did to pay for his house, so it wasn't all good. There are a lot of references to "Reagan's America" and the nuclear threat. It was seen, at the time, as a dark period.
.Winters explains that the book has some pretty raw sex in it because the authors wanted to be sure they did not write a juvenile, Walt Disney book.
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SELECTED QUOTES:
Here are some quotes from King and Straub. Quotes make up the meat of the article, which were probably the notes Winter built his chapter from.
.STRAUB: "It was totally at random. When one of us took it, usually he went on until he reached a point at which he was comfortable dropping it. So we pretty much ignored our assignments and went on until a natural break. By and large, we started off writing it rigidly, and ended up doing it instinctively, which was by far the better of the two ways."
.KING: "It was a little bit like playing tennis. He would send what he had done and then I would work for three or four weeks and send the stuff back to him. And I really enjoyed the process -- partly because writers are so lazy. It was wonderful; the book would grow without me doing anything. But it was also a little bit like the old days, when I got the Saturday Evening Post with its serial stories. When Peter said he was going to send me something, and I would get excited because I was going to get to read some more of the story."
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STRAUB: [about editing each others work] "I think we both must have been a little touchy about that. Anyway, we accepted whatever the other guy did until the book was done. Then, in the final editing, we each took a free hand with the other's stuff. and there were times when I wished we could have done the whole book like that, becasue it was a wonderful and profound experience, and something very few writers ever get the chance to have. It's like having an X ray of someones mind when you review his material that way."
.KING: "The problems with The Talisman were always problems of length. The book had been conceived as a 'get it and bring it back' story, as opposed to The Lord of the Rings, which is a 'take it and get rid of it' story. But we began to realize that we had only mapped out half of the book -- that is to say, we had mapped about to the point where Jack gets it, and we had left bringing it back to another planning session. Except that by November of 1982, we already had something like six hundred pages of copy. So, we're sitting and looking at each other saying, 'We've got to do something.' We kicked around a lot of ideas, because there were lots of incidents we had planned for the way out that we hadn't got to yet, and we started realizing that this was going to be long."
.STRAUB: "It would have been a four-thousand page novel, and Steve and I would both be dead, if we were still trying to write that thing."
.KING: "It's a very mythic book. to me, the most wonderful thing about it is how eighteenth and nineteenth century the book is in terms of storytelling, and also in terms of the effort to create large archetypes.
.We were interested in the concept of the hero in literature. we talked about the hero in terms of the quest, the mythicization of the hero, and the return of the hero to a lesser being when the quest is completed. Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel that doesn't have a specific object for its quest, so we focused instead on things like the story of Jesus, the story of King Arthur, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We talked about those things, and when we wrote the book, it filtered down like sediment."
.STRAUB: "Twain was on our minds at the start, but the finished book suggests that our efforts were more conscious than they really were. I do know that we had Tom Sawyer in mind when we named Jack; but we really didn't have Twain on our minds during the whole term of the book."
.KING: "It's about children who have power."
Twilight Zone Magazine Bachman Ad
My February 1985 issue of the Twilight Zone magazine landed in my mailbox today. I do love ebay!
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I will post more on the articles inside, and the King/Straub interview. I love going through old magazine's and seeing what was happening at the time. As I thumbed through aging pages, something cool caught my eye. It was an ad. Later that year, 1985, King would be exposed as Richard Bachman. But in February, the general reading public had not been let in on the secret. The ad is for Thinner.
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That's interesting, because Bachman had run under the radar until Thinner. His books were not met with much publicity. In fact, they were usually released as simple paperbacks.
Stephen King reviews 'Mildred Pierce' For Newsweek
Here is a chatty review of Mildred Pierce (HBO mini-series) by Stephen King. It was posted March 20, 2011. I always enjoy King's take on current trends and culture.
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There’s terrific acting in Todd Haynes’s chilly remake. Melissa Leo gives a tough-as-nails performance as Mildred’s one friend, BrÃan F. O’Byrne is perfect as Mildred’s clueless but basically good-hearted first husband, and as for Winslet and Pearce … holy crow.
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But don't expect just praise and gushing in this review. King is always honest with his readers! His primary complaint: Length! Yes, he does see the irony for him -- of all people on planet earth! -- to say something is too long.
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King writes, "All the same, there are problems here. Haynes has shown his love for the Hollywood version of America’s past before, most notably in the remarkable but equally hard to like Far From Heaven (2002), and here it has gotten out of control. In words of one syllable? It’s too damn long. I suppose that sounds impudent, coming from a guy who’s written several doorstop-size novels, but I stand by it. When Emperor Joseph II purportedly told Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that his new opera had too many notes, Mozart supposedly replied, “Only as many as necessary, Your Highness.” Using that metaphor, the Haynes version of Mildred Pierce has way too much sheet music."
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One more wonderful line from King -- I can't resist: "Winslet’s Mildred is a genuine star turn. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her." HA! I love it!
.Okay, here's the full review by Stephen King:
Updating Chris, Teddy, Vern, and Gordie
picture: http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2011/03/20/dvd_report_this_weeks_new_releases_march_20/
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boston.com has a review of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray reissue of “Stand by Me." In particular, the review focuses on the video commentary, which includes Rob Reiner, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman. Here's some interesting lines:
- Wheaton, now 38, notes how strangely his castmates’ paths have mirrored their characters’ fates. River Phoenix, like misunderstood tough kid Chris, died tragically young. Feldman, like wacky, turmoil-filled Teddy, endured tough, legally dicey personal times. And just like pudgy Vern finding a lucky penny at the end of the movie, Jerry O’Connell has made out all right.
- Reiner: “I still can’t get over the fact that that little fat kid is married to Rebecca Romijn!’’ Feldman: “She can’t either!’’
- About River Phoenix: The laughs and anecdotes flow freely enough that there’s no hard talk about Phoenix until the 35-minute mark, over a scene of Chris offering reassurance to Wheaton’s introspectively burdened Gordie. Feldman remembers calling Phoenix some time before his fatal overdose, offering to get together to talk addiction struggles. “That’s always been a big regret in my life, that I wasn’t able to do more,’’ he says.
- Reiner: “That’s the thing that’s so upsetting. I don’t know what it is that you can do.’’
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2011/03/20/dvd_report_this_weeks_new_releases_march_20/
King To Write Episode Of THE WALKING DEAD
Dread Central posted this news -- with a question mark. Still, interesting. .
According to IGN during the C2E2 show in Chicago today, actress Laurie Holden, who plays "Andrea" on the series, let it slip that none other than the great Stephen King is in talks to pen an episode of "The Walking Dead" in Season 2. Also coming out of the show it was mentioned that series creator Frank Darabont will indeed be directing an episode himself, just not the first one.
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http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/43275/stephen-king-pen-episode-walking-dead
Stand By Me Cast Reunites
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msnbc has an article titled "25 years later, 'Stand By Me' cast reunites : Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton turn out for anniversary interview."
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Three of the old gang showed up Thursday at Toluca Lake, California for a 25th Stand By me reunion. Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton — the three remaining principal stars of "Stand by Me" — reunited at the Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake, Calif.
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Of course, River Phoenix died at the young age of 23 of a drug overdose. The article gives this update on the other stars: "As for Phoenix's costars? O'Connell (who was a pudgy pre-teen in the flick) is now married with twins to Rebecca Romjin and stars in the TV series "The Defenders." Wheaton went on to become a regular on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and other sci-fi TV shows and films, and has a popular blog, Wil Wheaton Dot Net. He's also married with two stepsons. Feldman has had his own struggles with drugs and alcohol, and in 2010 mourned the loss of his pal and fellow child star Corey Haim. He is now a lead singer for the band The Truth Movement."
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Will Wheaton also appears from time to time on Big Bang Theory -- as Sheldon's arch nemesis.
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Pontificating Remakes
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Brian Clark at movieline.com has an interesting article titled "5 Remakes of Bad Stephen King Adaptations That Should Get Fast Tracked ."
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Each entry is given a short synopsis and reasons why it deserves a remake. Here's the big 5:
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1. Children of the Corn. You've got to be kidding, Mr. Clark! Let it die. It might not be able to rest in peace, but at lest let it squirm in its nasty grave on the back aisle of the video store and the $5 barrel at Walmart.
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2. The Night Flier.
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3. Needful Things
Clark writes: "Max Von Sydow plays the devil , who opens up shop in (of course) a small town in Maine. With this casting and setup, I still don’t understand why this movie is so tame and dull, but it is! I’d accept either a straight-up comedy remake or a horrifying one, but the middle-ground that the original version treads is unacceptable."
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I too would love to see a Needful Things remake. But, as always, one faithful to the book. Maybe a mini-series.
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4. Pet Sematary. (Just in case the first one didn't do it for you.)
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5. It
Clark's logic: "The original TV miniseries inspired weeks or even months of nightmares in small children thanks to Tim Curry’s terrifying portrayal of Pennywise, the shape-shifting, child-eating clown. Then the ending (spoiler alert) where he just turns out to be a stupid, giant spider out of a 50’s B-movie quickly ensured that all children could sleep soundly again. To actually make a faithful adaptation of the novel, this would probably work better as an HBO miniseries. Which would be great! But even if the studio could deliver something as slick as the first hour and a half of the original that doesn’t peter out at the end, It could become a potential horror classic. "
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You know, I have to agree. All went well, until the end -- when the movie just petered out. But things I hear about the movie do not give me hope. Moving the time line up to the 80's -- not good! Forcing the whole story into a 2 hour feature movie, again, not good.
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If I may ask, why keep remaking old movies that went dud in the night when there are some great books that haven't been touched? Bag of Bones, most things Bachman, Cell, From a Buick 8, Duma Key, Lisey's Story, Talisman, Under The Dome, Eyes of the Dragon, The Sun Dog, Insomnia.
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Japan Carrie Laser Disk
I ran across this today on ebay. Interesting! Remember the Laser Disk? I have this movie, on LD -- but in English.
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http://cgi.ebay.com/Japan-LD-CARRIE-1976-Stephen-King-Brian-Palma-/320461897778
Monsters Film Festival
Dread Central is reporting some changes to the Monster Film Festival.
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The three-day event will be held at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills, CA, located at 9036 Wilshire Blvd., from April 8-10, 2011
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From the Press Release:
The Imagi-Movies Film Festival 2011 continues in the spirit of Famous Monsters, inspiring the imagination of storytellers worldwide. Along with the independent films from our FM Film Festival finalists, the Imagi-Movies Festival will celebrate the Vincent Price Centennial with daughter Victoria Price and the 80th anniversary of Universal's Frankenstein and Dracula with the Lugosi family. Additionally, the theater will feature exclusive previews for upcoming horror films such as Universal's The Thing, a rare collection of Stephen King's Dollar Babies exposé, and a Famous Monsters and the H.P. Lovecraft Society's compilation of Lovecraft films in honor of one of horror's iconic writers.
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Come enjoy a weekend of movies and filmmaking with fans and even take home some tools of the trade during live panels with some of the leading names in Hollywood.
Come enjoy a weekend of movies and filmmaking with fans and even take home some tools of the trade during live panels with some of the leading names in Hollywood.
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Stephen King's Dollar Babies:
Autopsy Room Four
Disciples of the Crow
Flowers For Norma
Home Delivery
The Man Who Loved Flowers
Night Surf
Paranoid
Popsy
Rainy Season
The Road Virus Heads North
Strawberry Spring
Umney’s Last Case
Stephen King Panel featuring Mick Garris, Jay Hoben, Peter Sullivan, Mark Lester, Pete Von Sholly
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Herman Wouk Is Still Alive
stephenking.com reports: "Stephen King’s short story, “Herman Wouk is Still Alive,” will be published in the May issue of The Atlantic, on newsstands April 19 and available on the web and to subscribers a week earlier."
http://www.stephenking.com/index.html
http://www.stephenking.com/index.html
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Herman who? Wouk worked for Fred Allen as a writer. Fred Allen was famous on old radio and early television. As a Jack Benny fan, I don't know about this Mr. Wouk! (Benny and Allen had an ongoing feud that was awesome!) In fact, just think of all the Jack Benny digs this Wouk has probably written. He later served in World War Two.
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On a more serious note, he is the author of many historical novels, most notably The Caine Mutiny and Winds of war. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Caine Mutiny. His most recent book is The Language God Talks. He is Jewish and has written a lot about Israel. Awesomely cool to me, he lives in California! (Not too far away)
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Website: http://www.hermanwouk.net/index.html
Biography: http://www.hermanwouk.net/biography.html
On What's My Line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXiiuVtu5AA
THE BATTLE OF TULL!
Robin Furth is back, crafting a new Dark Tower comic book arc -- this time the action will take place at "The Battle of Tull." Teamed with writer Peter David and new Michael Lark, who is new to the project.
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Lark is quoted as saying: "I have nothing but respect and admiration for Stephen King and the chance to work on The Dark Tower is a wonderful privilege. I only hope that I can come close to conveying his vision - a daunting task, but a challenge that I'm enjoying tremendously. "It has allowed me to explore the darker aspects of my art and really start pushing some of the boundaries of my own style. And who doesn't love drawing cowboys and horses?"
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The Battle Of Tullwill be a five issue arc. Sounds interesting!
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http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a308955/michael-lark-joins-dark-tower.html
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Lark is quoted as saying: "I have nothing but respect and admiration for Stephen King and the chance to work on The Dark Tower is a wonderful privilege. I only hope that I can come close to conveying his vision - a daunting task, but a challenge that I'm enjoying tremendously. "It has allowed me to explore the darker aspects of my art and really start pushing some of the boundaries of my own style. And who doesn't love drawing cowboys and horses?"
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The Battle Of Tullwill be a five issue arc. Sounds interesting!
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http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a308955/michael-lark-joins-dark-tower.html
1978 The Stand Journal 4: Random notes to the Lincoln Tunnel
Wow, this book is great! These are random notes thus far.
.1. Lloyd trapped in the prison. He's captured a rat for dinner. The character development of Lloyd -- via a bunny -- is fantastic.
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2. The walking dude has been introduced. His scenes are some of the few where King backs up and shows the larger landscape. In the complete edition, he added several overview scenes. They were, in some cases, heart breaking, but brilliant as they opened the movie up. Again, much like Lucas did when he re-vamped Star Wars.
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3. The Stand has some of the most annoying characters in King history. Herold is one of them for sure. Greasy, icky and beyond simply socially awkward. Add to that the irritating, pill popping Rita. These characters are paired with "normies" who are quite likable. The pairing is brilliant from a literary point of view because it gives the book needed tension.
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4. This book also has some of the best characters you'll ever encounter. Nick, for one, is a wonderful addition to the story.
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5. The Stand also gives us the very emotionally unstable -- unstable nothin'! this dude is all out off his rocker -- Trashcan Man! Again, the background story is great. It's scary how easily King puts us inside the head of a crazy man.
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6. Larry's long trip through the Lincoln tunnel is wonderful -- and very scary. It is one of the best scenes King has ever given us.
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7. There aren't many "couples" in this book. By that, I mean, people who started out with a spouse -- even if they are knocked off by Captain Trips. Frannie, Larry, Stu, Lloyd, Trashcan and Nick are all single. Stu was married, but his wife died before the novel began. For both Frannie and Larry, the important relationship is a parent; Franny her Father, Larry his mother. But, at least for major characters, there is no loss of a spouse as a result of Super Flu.
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8. There also are not a lot of children filling the landscape thus far. In the unabridged edition, a child falls down a well. I do not think that is in the 1978 edition. But for the most part, children are absent.
CARRIE: Behind The Scenes
This is cool! Really. . . it's from aintitcool.com. Two pictures from Carrie behind the scenes.
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Quint has a nice post about what makes Carrie a great flick, and offers this info on the pics: "Today we have two pictures from Carrie, both featuring Sissy Spacek covered in blood. The second one I’ve had for a while, but didn’t have a place for it because it was so low res, but as a B-side to a nice, crisp image it’s great… especially since it looks like Sissy is smoking a joint!" That's funny.
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So, here they are. Used with permission from the Big Man himself. . .
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Quint has a nice post about what makes Carrie a great flick, and offers this info on the pics: "Today we have two pictures from Carrie, both featuring Sissy Spacek covered in blood. The second one I’ve had for a while, but didn’t have a place for it because it was so low res, but as a B-side to a nice, crisp image it’s great… especially since it looks like Sissy is smoking a joint!" That's funny.
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So, here they are. Used with permission from the Big Man himself. . .
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Wind Through The Keyhole Set For 2012
image: http://needleful.com/search?tag=keyhole.
Are you ready to return to midworld? Here is a letter from Stephen King to the Constant Reader.
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Dear Constant Readers,
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At some point, while worrying over the copyedited manuscript of the next book (11/22/63, out November 8th), I started thinking—and dreaming—about Mid-World again. The major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)?
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There was a storm, I decided. One of sudden and vicious intensity. The kind to which billy-bumblers like Oy are particularly susceptible. Little by little, a story began to take shape. I saw a line of riders, one of them Roland’s old mate, Jamie DeCurry, emerging from clouds of alkali dust thrown by a high wind. I saw a severed head on a fencepost. I saw a swamp full of dangers and terrors. I saw just enough to want to see the rest. Long story short, I went back to visit an-tet with my friends for awhile. The result is a novel called The Wind Through the Keyhole. It’s finished, and I expect it will be published next year.
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It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends, but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present. The novel is shorter than DT 2-7, but quite a bit longer than the first volume—call this one DT-4.5. It’s not going to change anybody’s life, but God, I had fun.
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Dear Constant Readers,
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At some point, while worrying over the copyedited manuscript of the next book (11/22/63, out November 8th), I started thinking—and dreaming—about Mid-World again. The major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)?
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There was a storm, I decided. One of sudden and vicious intensity. The kind to which billy-bumblers like Oy are particularly susceptible. Little by little, a story began to take shape. I saw a line of riders, one of them Roland’s old mate, Jamie DeCurry, emerging from clouds of alkali dust thrown by a high wind. I saw a severed head on a fencepost. I saw a swamp full of dangers and terrors. I saw just enough to want to see the rest. Long story short, I went back to visit an-tet with my friends for awhile. The result is a novel called The Wind Through the Keyhole. It’s finished, and I expect it will be published next year.
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It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends, but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present. The novel is shorter than DT 2-7, but quite a bit longer than the first volume—call this one DT-4.5. It’s not going to change anybody’s life, but God, I had fun.
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-- Steve King
.King: My next horror novel could star Rick
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Stephen King spoke at a Florida rally Tuesday night against Governor Rick Scott. King said, "Maybe my next horror novel could star Rick Scott."
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From the video: "Thanks for commin' out. Remember, when these people talk to you about a weekend, thank a union guy. If you want a days honest pay for a days honest work, thank a union guy. Hate the war, love the veterans. We don't leave them to sit in corridors in their own urine while they wait for someone to take care of them. It's hot, we're almost done, I want to say one more thing. I hear a lot of things down here about how we can create Jobs, how Rick Scott is going to create jobs. Then I heard about the Obama administration getting ready to give this huge slug of money to Florida to build a light railway, over to Orlando. Scott said no no no, we can't do that because we'll end up holding the bag. He's right. It's probably a bad deal considering how low the price of gasoline is. Who wouldn't want to get on I-4 . . . I mean, who would want to get on a light rail when you could get on I-4 and wait in traffic?" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/09/stephen-king-rick-scott-book_n_833697.html
Jon Bershad quotes King further: “Now, you might say, ‘What are you doing up there? Aren’t you rich?’ The answer is, ‘Thank God, yes.’ . . . And you know what? As a rich person, I pay 28% taxes. What I want to ask you is, why don’t I pay 50%? Why is everybody in my bracket not paying 50%? The Republicans will say, from John Boehner to Mitch McConnell to Rick Scott, that we can’t do that because, if we tax guys like me, there won’t be any jobs. It’s bull! It’s total bull!” http://www.mediaite.com/online/stephen-king-speaks-budget-cut-protest-says-florida-governor-should-star-in-his-next-horror-novel/
Brian Keene: Influenced By The Mist
I like what I've read of Brian Keene. In fact, he's one of those authors I plan to read more of. Keene's book Darkness at the Edge of Town looks particularly interesting. One of the things I like about Keene is that he is not at all ashamed to admit that other authors inspired him.
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This is from Keene's webpage:
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Q: Was this a homage to The Mist?
A: Not a homage in the way Castaways was a homage to Richard Laymon or Urban Gothic was a homage to Edward Lee, but DotEoT was certainly influenced by The Mist, and the novel proudly wears that influence on its sleeve. The Mist is one of the most important works of horror fiction in the last fifty years, and remains one of my personal favorites (it also influenced The Conqueror Worms).
A: Not a homage in the way Castaways was a homage to Richard Laymon or Urban Gothic was a homage to Edward Lee, but DotEoT was certainly influenced by The Mist, and the novel proudly wears that influence on its sleeve. The Mist is one of the most important works of horror fiction in the last fifty years, and remains one of my personal favorites (it also influenced The Conqueror Worms).
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Later Keene writes:
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Q: Plot-wise, DotEoT seems similar to Under the Dome?
A: In the sense that people are trapped inside a small-town, yes. But both are riffs on a much older theme, and DotEoT was published (in hardcover) a full year before Dome.
A: In the sense that people are trapped inside a small-town, yes. But both are riffs on a much older theme, and DotEoT was published (in hardcover) a full year before Dome.
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Arnold considers Running Man remake
Now that Jerry Brown has reclaimed his position as Governor of California, what is our friend Arnold up to? Well, he made a recent appearance at "The Arnold Seminar." I kid you not. thearnoldfans.com explains that each year Arnie comes out to take questions and inspire the crowd.
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Asked what movie he might choose as his "comback film." Schwarzenegger said that studios are "desperate" to get him back on screen. He says he has at least 15 scripts awaiting him. So which one will he choose? (Please, please. . . don't be The Stand!) Arnie listed Terminator remake, Predator and The Running Man. He also said he is "packaging a Comic Book character." Arnold also announced he is at work on his autobiography.
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I think most King fans would agree with me when I say The Running Man deserves a remake. In fact, if we can -- we demand one! But not because Schwarzenegger needs more screen time. This film needs a remake because the movie never told the story Stephen King gave us. King had us on the edge of our seats! It was awesome. The movie. . . was. . . well, we'll just say it was not King's book.
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In an article titled, "Ten Movies Actually Worth Remaking", the filmcritic staff explain why Running Man is worthy of a remake: "A remake, with more respect for the source material and an eye on plausible conjecture rather than cartoonish posturing, could make a masterful addition to the sci-fi canon." http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2009/06/ten-movies-actually-worth-remaking/
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Remake: YES!
Arnie: Unnecessary.
Arnie: Unnecessary.
Maine In Literature
In an article titled "Where in the book", Janet Mendelsohn of boston.com reviews how Maine has been highlighted in literature. She writes, "Maine is the backdrop for countless books beloved by children and adults, and the home or stomping ground of writers from Henry David Thoreau to Stephen King."
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About King, Mendelsohn writes, BANGOR King’s characters inhabit at least 30 places statewide, real and imaginary, including Sanford (“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’’), and Castle Rock, a fictional town northwest of Lewiston, where King, who owns a house in Bangor, set the series that ran from “Different Seasons’’ (1982) to “Needful Things’’ (1991). Novelist Tabitha King, Stephen’s wife, invented another small town for her Nodd’s Ridge, Maine, series.
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Fangoria: interview with Mick Garris
Fangoria has posted a great interview with Mick Garris.
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About Sleepwalkers: "The reviews were just terrible, but there are things in that film that I’m very proud of. It’s definitely not my favorite, but I love the goofiness of it. You spend a year of your life on a film, so you just can’t make a film that doesn’t have things you’re proud of in it. Stephen and I definitely went into that one with the idea that we were making a B movie. "
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Asked if his association with Stephen King has created any studio backlash, Garris says it has. In fact, he recounts losing a Dean Koontz movie because he's "the Stephen King guy."
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More interesting is what he says about The Shinining (Garris directed the mini-series). He says, "But most of the backlash I get is from the Kubrick fans who can’t believe that we remade THE SHINING. I take a lot of heat from them. But we just wanted to make something truer to the book. But, any negatives are far overweighed by the positives. Stephen is just an amazing and generous guy."
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Garris calls Riding The Bullet his most personal work.
Stanley Hotel Dumbed Down
So I'm watching Dumb and Dumber. Don't judge me. And when they finally make it to "Aspen". . . guess what hotel exterior I spot; that's right, it's the Stanley Hotel. Of course, it's not in Aspen, but who really expects the brilliant minds who made Dumb and Dumber to actually be able to find Aspen, eh!
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Of course, in October 1974, King spent the weekend at the Stanley hotel. He and his family were the only guest there, because the hotel staff was clearing out for winter. King's own version of The Shining was filmed at the Hotel in 1996, just two years after Lloyd and Larry made their visit. In Dumb and Dumber it was the Danbury Hotel.
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If only. . . Larry and Lloyd had an opportunity to meet our friend Jack -- the end of Dumb and Dumber would be so much better.
1978 The Stand Journal 3: Audio edition
picture: Sharon holds volume 1-2 of The Stand.
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My wife bought me the Stand on audio tape, read by Grover Gardner. I'm really enjoying it! She had the tapes sent directly to a company that converts tapes to CD. They also put them on MP3 for me.
My wife bought me the Stand on audio tape, read by Grover Gardner. I'm really enjoying it! She had the tapes sent directly to a company that converts tapes to CD. They also put them on MP3 for me.
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We used: Thick And Mystic Media to professionally transfer the material. http://www.audiomover.com/ They did great! The sound quality is superb (these tapes were pretty old, and there are absolutely no sound issues thus far). Each chapter serves as a separate track.
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If you want it on CD, you have to actually buy the audio tapes and then transfer them. However, Ms. Mod at stephenking.com answers the legal question of transferring your tapes to CD as follows: "That shouldn't be an issue because it's for your own use but it's the people who are making multiple copies and selling them which is clearly violating copyright laws that we have a problem with." http://www.stephenking.com/forums/showthread.php/15950-The-Stand-on-CD
It appears that when this was originally recorded, unabridged recordings were not sold in mainstream book stores. It was more popular to abridge recordings for mass sale. So the unabridged books were primarily for libraries -- catering to the blind.
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So far, the book is fantastic. I've read this edition once before, but it was years ago.
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Details:
- The audio tapes are broken into two volumes.
- The first volume has 11 hour and half cassettes. It originally sold for $88.00. (2163-A)
- The second volume has 12 hour and half cassettes. It originally sold for $96.00. (2163-B)
- Both volumes say "collector's edition." I do not know why.
- The recording was done by books on tape.
- The reader is Grover Gardner. I like his reading very much. He has recorded a lot of books -- some of them absolutely massive! Like Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. He also recorded The Dark Half.
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Genre of 11/22/63
Charles McGarth at the New York Times has posted an interesting article on Stephen King's new book. His article focuses primarily on the genre. McGarth call the book a "counterfactual" novel -- a book that imagines what would happen if historical events turned out differently.
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McGarth gives us a sampling of some popular counterfactual books out there. He writes: Mr. King is no stranger to parallel or alternate universes, but for him this is a rare foray into alternate history. In American fiction, perhaps the groundbreaking instance of this genre is Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel “The Man in the High Castle,” which imagines that the Axis had won World War II. More recent examples are Philip’s Roth’s novel “The Plot Against America” (2004), in which Charles Lindbergh beats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, ushering in an era of American fascism and anti-Semitism, and the just published collection of novellas “Then Everything Changed,” by Jeff Greenfield, which actually upends Mr. King’s premise. It has Kennedy being assassinated three years earlier, not in Dallas but in Palm Beach, Fla. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/what-if-in-next-novel-stephen-king-imagines-a-chance-to-alter-the-jfk-presidency/
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McGarth gives us a sampling of some popular counterfactual books out there. He writes: Mr. King is no stranger to parallel or alternate universes, but for him this is a rare foray into alternate history. In American fiction, perhaps the groundbreaking instance of this genre is Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel “The Man in the High Castle,” which imagines that the Axis had won World War II. More recent examples are Philip’s Roth’s novel “The Plot Against America” (2004), in which Charles Lindbergh beats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, ushering in an era of American fascism and anti-Semitism, and the just published collection of novellas “Then Everything Changed,” by Jeff Greenfield, which actually upends Mr. King’s premise. It has Kennedy being assassinated three years earlier, not in Dallas but in Palm Beach, Fla. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/what-if-in-next-novel-stephen-king-imagines-a-chance-to-alter-the-jfk-presidency/
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