NY TIMES Discusses The KING Family

Check out Susan Dominus' lengthy article, Stephen King’s Family Business. (www.nytimes.com) There is actually more personal information in this article than in most of the Stephen King biographies I've read!  Which brings to mind, I am still waiting for George Beahm to update his wonderful biography of Stephen King, America's Best Loved Boogeyman.

Here's some bullet points:

• They do read Dean Koontz. Some like 'em -- some don't.  They also like Larry McMurtry, Wilbur Smith, Tolstoy, C.S. Lewis, James Cain, John D. MacDonald, Neil Gaiman
• Stephen King bribed his kids to read books on tape for him.  Including some pretty nasty stuff, like Raven, which is about the Jonestown massacre.
• At bedtime, King's children were expected to tell their parents bedtime stories.  That's pretty cool!
• Stephen King used to win prizes in Sunday School for memorizing verses.  No one should be surprised by this; his writing shows a working knowledge of the Biblical narrative.
• They also took time to read after dinner books like The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia. 
• Joe Hill cannot stop working if a sentence ends on an odd count of letters.  (Who counts?)  Rather compulsive, he has been known to miss appointments because he keeps going home to make sure the oven is off.  I understand this!  I run back to make sure the door is locked, then think, "now, did I really check?"
• Naomi King wrote fantasy as a kid.
• I appreciated Tabby's point that her children should not sulk too much about the burden of being children of writers -- since everyone has parents they will be compared to in some way.
• As always, I love the love story between Steve and Tabby.  Not only how they were  young, in love and poor -- but how she was willing to confront his worst habits and demand the best in him. Dominus writes: Tabby explained to all of them that if their father did not agree to get sober, she would ask him to leave. “I didn’t want to lie to my kids,” she said. “I’ve never really gotten lying anyway, because all you do is postpone the day at which you’re revealed to be a liar.” As the family discussed the intervention all these years later, the conversation grew almost hushed. “It was terrifying,” Naomi said. “Are you going to have a dad anymore?”
• The critic they all fear is Tabby.  She got Joe to change the ending of one of his books!  (And remember, she's the reason Dreamcatcher isn't named Cancer.)
• Naomi King isn't really a fan of the horror genre -- she's a fan of theology.  Dominus quotes Naomi, "I do care about monsters — I care very much about theological interpretations of how we make friends with our monsters. If we demonize other people and create monsters out of each other and act monstrous — and we all have that capacity — then how do we not become monsters ourselves?”
• Joe is a positive guy. (read the article)

photo credit: nytimes.com

I found this just down right sweet, about Owen King's wife, Kelly, and the King's:

The relationship between Kelly and Stephen has the easy rapport of in-laws relieved to enjoy each other’s company, the conversation light, less likely to turn to the mysterious process of writing than to the end product — either someone else’s work or their own. The Kings’ embrace of her writing is clearly not a function of politeness; they seemed to be competing to outdo themselves in their praise of “Save Yourself” when the subject came up. 

The full article is at: www.nytimes.com

King among 25 Inspiring Biographies for Aspiring Writers

Online college has an interesting article titled, "25 Inspiring Biographies for Aspiring Writers."  (HERE)

The introduction is great!  It offers this advice:

Before setting off in pursuit of literary and intellectual greatness (or at least goodness), it behooves the journeyman author to learn a few things from those that came before. Don't get bogged down in fantasy. Take the time to read up on how successful writers — no matter their chosen genres or mediums — generate ideas and inspiration, process them, then bestow them life on paper or screen. Painting teachers often request their students to copy old masters in order to learn techniques they may uniquely, creatively build upon as their own visions begin emerging. And the exact same strategy works beautifully for the written arts in kind.

Each entry has a short description of the author and their work.

Included on the list of authors is

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou:
2. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath
4. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
5. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (I really want to read this one!)
6. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
7. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima by Henry Scott Stokes
8. Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo.  (I’ve read this, and love it!)
9. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
10. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
11. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
12. The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
13. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
14. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
15. My Years with Ayn Rand by Nathaniel Branden
16. Excelsior! by Stan Lee and George Mair
17. Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim
18, The Diary of Anais Nin by Anais Nin
19. Why this World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector by Benjamin Moser
20. Ignatius Rising by Deborah George Harvey and Rene Pol Nevils
21. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
22. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
23. Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain (I have this book. . . it’s huge!)
24. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
25. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Of course, On Writing was on the list, calling it an "essential" read.  About the King book, the article says,

"On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: Not only do On Writing readers receive quite the insight into ubiquitous horror author Stephen King's own personal mindset and process, they also learn quite a bit about the art. It's oftentimes cited as one of the best literary autobiographies and practicums to boot, so consider it an essential read!"

Thanks to Carol Brown

Stephen King's Comic Biography

My copy of Stephen King's comic biography came a couple of weeks ago.  I got my copy as part of a Stephen King grab bag from Cemetery Dance.  I've read it through several times -- and enjoyed it a lot.

The text was written by Michael Lent and Brian McCarthy.  Kent Hulburt did the penciling and colors.  Bernie Lee did the letters.

The narrative moves along familiar lines, starting with the car accident.  There's lots of blood here!  The story also shows King's father walking out, and King's comment "We were latchkey kids before there were latchkey kids.  And she was a female wage earner when, basically, women did scut work and cleaned up other peoples messes." 

Most interesting is the inclusion of a story from King's boyhood not previously mentioned.  a friend wanted to crush a penny -- and so he placed it on the train track.  The worst thing imaginable happened, and the text notes that even as an adult King cannot recall the details of the event.

There is not a lot of new information here, except confirmation of a story from King's boyhood  But the new format held my interest.  I don't think I'm a good comic book reader.  There are scene shifts on the same page that don't make sense to me.  For instance, we are told that King had an uncle who could find water underground using a stick.  Scene below that shows king finding a box of his dads.  I don't understand the connection to King's uncle. 

It is neat to see the story from King's point of view.  When the doctor puts a needle in his ear, doc first just looks like any other doctor.  As the pain increases, the doctor looks like a demon, horns popping from his head and back.

the comic sells for $3.99 and is from Bluewater Comics.  One ad also stood out; Cinema St.Lous is having a Vincentennial -- "The Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration." 

http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/stephen-kings-comic-book-biography-orbit-stephen-king-hits-shelves-this-week