Why Do You Like Stephen King?

Q: Going through your favorite books on your websites, I spotted among the mostly literary list several titles by horror novelist Stephen King. King is a genre writer and you seem to have literary aspirations. Would you explain why you count him as one of your favorites.

A: King is not the only genre writer on my list, first of all.

But to answer the question, King is one of my favorite writers because unlike many genre writers, he has excellent writing skills; and unlike many literary writers, he does not let his writing interfere with his storytelling.

When I read "genre" fiction, I am hooked by the story but usually find myself skipping through sentences, paragraphs, and as I near the end of the book entire chapters because the WRITING itself is not engaging.

When I read "literary" fiction, I am hooked by the writing but sometimes find myself abandoning the book halfway through because the STORY itself is not engaging--or I finish the work but have trouble fully enjoying it because the writing is so dense that it becomes more interesting than the actual story.

The works I love (be they literary or genre) are those that have an engaging story and writing that is polished.

King's stories, of course, are enagining, for that is the strength of the genre writer, right? But his prose is also always polished and at times masterful. Furthermore, he has a great sense of humor, excellent timing, a knowledge of all the "tricks," and a flawless instinct for when to use them.

In short, his books are readable without being dumb. It's more than that actually. His books are highly enjoyable.

Finally, King is an "important" writer--as important to our times as Edgar Allan Poe (good writer, but not considered literary in his day), James Fennimore Cooper (not a very good writer at all), and Shakespeare (good writer, but not considered literary in his day) were to their times.

Imagine you are a college student in the year, say, 2090, and you take a course in 20th Century Horror--and on the syllabus there are no works by Stephen King. Drop the course.

By the way, King is already being taught in college classrooms around the country.


Thanks,

Preston