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He lives in Bangor, Me., and I am lucky enough to have gone and seen his house, and even take some pictures of it.

2007-01-05 01:31:26 · 8 answers · asked by Bud's Girl 6 in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

8 answers

I like Stephen King as a person. He is engaging and interesting to listen to.
Unfortunately, I don't rate his work. He needs to find a decent editor. Sadly, many writers once they become famous think they're above the editorial process of cutting out unwanted passages from their work.

2007-01-05 01:53:57 · answer #1 · answered by Panama Jack 4 · 0 0

Stephen King was the first American author I read if you don't include Poe and other short story masters. His first work I read was Dreamcatcher and the biggest impression it made on me was the way in which he had made the bizarre events that overtake the protoganists beautifully dovetail with their everyday lives. To someone who is used to treating different genres a mutually exclusive ( I know I'm expressing myself badly), the book was a revelation. It incorporates science fiction with a story of complex relationships and King's description of small-town America has strongly influenced my visualisation of the country. (I've never been there.)

While I accept that King is a great writer, there seems to be a puzzling consensus among Americans especially that he is one of the greatest writers of all time, when there are far better writers and far better American writers.

2007-01-05 09:46:18 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

He's one of the nicest people I have ever met--I'm originally from Maine, and it's not at all unusual to see him every so often while you are shopping around Bangor.

He does write great fiction, and he has contributed a great deal to the realm of horror--he is the yardstick by which all other horror writers are measured.

I think, personally, that it's great to have a favorite author and to collect all of his or her writing, but in order to be a well-rounded thinker, a person must read a variety of authors and subjects, so make sure that you explore outside of his work, too.

2007-01-05 09:55:09 · answer #3 · answered by preepreekiki 1 · 0 0

Stephen King is an exceptional writer. He has likened his writing to "the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries from McDonald's," but he made a good point through one of his own characters (Stuttering Bill Denbrough in "It") when he talks about how a story can be a good story without being econo-socio-political-anything. He writes stories that are spellbinding and evoke fantastic images (sometimes very gory and visceral) without the extensive use of prose and without linking everything to what would be considered relevent world issues. Simply put, he writes good stories -- they're not all dressed up in the manner that many so-called "serious writers" decorate their tales, but what's wrong with a good story in a plain brown wrapper?

P.S.: Check this out -- my father actually met him at his summer cottage and didn't immediately realize who he was! He was visiting an old friend who had moved to Maine and was semi-retired but made extra money by picking up people's trash and taking it to the dump for them (apparently they don't have waste disposal in that section of Maine). So my Dad goes out with his buddy and is picking up trash, he gets to the King summer house not knowing who lived there, he goes up to the front porch to grab the trash while his buddy went around back, and when he turned around there was a man standing there, as if he had appeared out of nowhere. My Dad got a little "spooked," to use his words, but he regained his composure and told the man that he was there with his friend Phil to pick up the garbage. The man replied "You must be Phil's friend from Detroit; he mentioned an old friend from Motown was coming to visit." Now my Dad is thinking this guy is one of Phil's friends, so he takes his gloves off, introduces himself, and offers his hand. The man shakes his hand and introduces himself as Steve King. Now, my Dad has read maybe 20 books in his life, so it wasn't until after he got back in the truck and was talking to Phil that he realized he had just met THE Stephen King...

2007-01-05 10:04:14 · answer #4 · answered by sarge927 7 · 1 0

An amazing author who has gotten people to read that have never read another book. A one man writing renaissance. No JK Rowling without him.
And a real human being.
Proof that you can imagine yourself into existence, if you are willing to do the work and interface with people.

2007-01-05 09:37:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I think he's an amazing and talented horror writer. Though I do wonder at times what does go on in that mind of his? lol But I do like the undercurrents of good vs evil in his books.

2007-01-05 10:03:42 · answer #6 · answered by tuxgal3 5 · 0 0

In the beginning, he was pretty danged good. One could say original. These days though, it seems like everything he writes is derivative crap.

Sorry.

2007-01-05 10:01:01 · answer #7 · answered by randkl 6 · 0 0

He is one of the best horror writers. I love his work.

2007-01-05 09:43:15 · answer #8 · answered by karma 7 · 0 0

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