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The Stephen King Story
In a revised edition of a biography that integrates King's life into a chronology of his work, readers learn about King's early days as a fledgling writer, as well as his present-day status as a one-man entertainment industry. Reprint.
326 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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784 people want to read
About the author
George Beahm
76 books53 followersGeorge Beahm writes books about censorship, sports figures, and numerous literary figures, including Patricia Cornwell, J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Philip Pullman, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 5, 2023
Джордж Бийм съвсем коректно уточнява във финалната си бележка, че не имал никакъв достъп до Стивън Кинг и/или близкото му обкръжение за „акуширането“ на тази книга, а я е написал въз основа на собствената си преценка от прочита на романите на Краля, критическите студии върху творчеството му, интервютата с него, циркулиращи в публичното пространство и „вторичните източници“, т.е. онези, чиято информация не може да бъде потвърдена на 100 %. В този смисъл „Историята на Стивън Кинг“ чисто технически се явява не толкова биография, колкото „литературен профил“ (каквото е и подзаглавието), но изчитането ѝ определено си заслужаваше. Разгледан е периодът от ученическите и студентските години на Кинг до 1990, когато вече е най-популярното име в литературата на Америка, а книгите му се продават в милионни тиражи. Лично аз научих много любопитни подробности за произведенията и филмовите им адаптации.
Недостатък на родното издание е, че през 1993 преводачката Вилиана Данова не е разполагала с кой знае каква информация за творбите, разгледани от Бийм, затова се срещат доста нелепици в заглавията им - например първият роман от „Тъмната кула“ става „Боецът“, последната новела от „Четири след полунощ“ - „Кучето от апарата Сън“ и пр., и пр. Като цяло обаче текстът е съвсем сносен за времето си. А интервюто, дадено от Кинг за „Плейбой“, включено като бонус материал, е наистина благо в откровенията си. На сами финала са поместени и близо четири дузини черно-бели фотографии с обяснителни бележки, които допълват приятните впечатления.
4,5/5 (повтарям, с отчитане на времевите рамки; разбирайте - „реалностите“ при издаването на книги у нас в началото на 90-те)
Недостатък на родното издание е, че през 1993 преводачката Вилиана Данова не е разполагала с кой знае каква информация за творбите, разгледани от Бийм, затова се срещат доста нелепици в заглавията им - например първият роман от „Тъмната кула“ става „Боецът“, последната новела от „Четири след полунощ“ - „Кучето от апарата Сън“ и пр., и пр. Като цяло обаче текстът е съвсем сносен за времето си. А интервюто, дадено от Кинг за „Плейбой“, включено като бонус материал, е наистина благо в откровенията си. На сами финала са поместени и близо четири дузини черно-бели фотографии с обяснителни бележки, които допълват приятните впечатления.
4,5/5 (повтарям, с отчитане на времевите рамки; разбирайте - „реалностите“ при издаването на книги у нас в началото на 90-те)
September 19, 2020
Excellent book about Stephen King and his work up to 1991 (when this book came out). Many quotes from King to help back up this writers thoughts. Really does give you more of an appreciation of the books, and of King himself. Way more entertaining that I thought it might be. Kept me reading to the end. Well done.
January 14, 2012
I just love these books that tell about the man behind the 'pen.'
This is yet another fascinating look at the master of modern horror. The more you know about him, the more you love his work.
This is yet another fascinating look at the master of modern horror. The more you know about him, the more you love his work.
May 2, 2015
Always love to read non-fiction about my favorite fiction author! I really enjoyed this read and if you love Stephen King, you'll love this book about him.
September 29, 2019
An interesting book. I've learnt a lot of things about Stephen King's early life and writing that I've never known before. I really liked it and I'm glad that I bought it from a second hand bookstore. However Stephen King hasn't approved the writing of this book so I'm not sure that everything that I've read was completely true. Overall it's a well written book.
April 17, 2014
This was a bit of a waste of time.
Other reviewers who have said there's little real detail in here are absolutely spot on. If you're already a Stephen King fan, you are extremely unlikely to learn anything valuable here. If you're relatively new to him, this book will tell you how many books he sold and when, and little else. All I've achieved by reading this is a sensation of mild frustration, and a need to read a much better version of this book.
I think I might have banged my head against the pages once or twice.
Don't bother picking this off the shelf. There must be better stuff out there than this.
Other reviewers who have said there's little real detail in here are absolutely spot on. If you're already a Stephen King fan, you are extremely unlikely to learn anything valuable here. If you're relatively new to him, this book will tell you how many books he sold and when, and little else. All I've achieved by reading this is a sensation of mild frustration, and a need to read a much better version of this book.
I think I might have banged my head against the pages once or twice.
Don't bother picking this off the shelf. There must be better stuff out there than this.
February 12, 2009
One of the only books I've read in the last decade that I thought was a complete and utter waste of time. Those who want to actually learn something about King's life and work should search elsewhere.
August 25, 2010
Eh. This is more about his career, whith a little bit about his childhood thrown in at the beginning. I know enough about his career, I want to know the person behind the books.
October 26, 2012
It is a biography of a creative mind. Every novelist - beginner or professional - should read this book.
March 23, 2013
A really good book that goes through the life of the very famous Stephen King. I learned a lot about King, more than I knew before reading the book, which is very refreshing.
March 5, 2017
I love a good biography, and I'm a lifelong fan of Stephen King, but this book was just painfully dull. Not that King's life hasn't been interesting, but the author spends way too much time reprinting quotes from interviews and excerpts from books, and not nearly enough establishing his own voice. I got through about half of this, and found myself dreading picking it up, so I gave up. The photos are interesting, so it's worth picking up and flipping through, but that's about all I can say for it.
March 8, 2018
Finally, i finished Stephen King Story. Took a while because as much as I love 'all things King', and his story is certainly an interesting one, the way this was written didn't make it a page turner for me. It was easy to put down, which I did, alot, to read other books.
Hence the four stars.
Having said that, it is Kings personal story so it's still good stuff and, for King fans it's most definitely worth a read.
Hence the four stars.
Having said that, it is Kings personal story so it's still good stuff and, for King fans it's most definitely worth a read.
November 10, 2022
Wow. Diese Biographie über meinen absoluten Lieblingsautoren ist einfach großartig. An manchen Stellen hatte ich das Gefühl, als stünde er direkt vor mir und würde mir das sagen. Durch dieses Buch habe ich noch mehr Verständnis für diesen Mann und seine Werke. Genial.
January 4, 2021
I know bits and pieces of Stephen Kings life but it was nice to get to know him a little bit more.
June 2, 2016
I picked this up at a library sale a few years ago; always looking for background on my favorite authors. It turns out that the subtitle, “A Literary Profile” is quite apropos, because the emphasis (aside from some descriptions of Mr. King’s early life and early writings) is on the publication history of his works, up till 1991. This includes his learning about how publishers and the wrong agent can milk and bilk the author, and how Mr. King changed publishers several times, sometimes while under contract to finish one or two works from the previous publisher. Additionally, it shows the progress, or publishing history, of a book, from hardback through “trade paperback” (larger format/type, on good paper) to “mass market paperback” (what most of us purchase, smaller size on pulp paper), in addition to several “special editions” (i.e, limited-run copies, some signed, with high quality binding and paper). While I found this aspect a fascinating introduction to the ins and outs of book publishing, a lot of the description is of book prices in the various formats, how big the printing run is, and other stuff that I quickly skipped over.
What is much more fascinating, for me anyway, is the descriptions of how Mr. King worked on several projects at once, e.g. revising a collection of short stories while going on a book tour for a published novel. And also how the germ of an idea (the opening lines of “The Gunslinger” came to him many years before the book was fleshed out; the premise for “IT,” being the banding together of a band of misfit children to battle an evil presence, came to him several times at various levels of strength before the novel ever took form). And Mr. Beahm also addresses the Richard Bachman books and how Mr. King dealt with being “outed,” partially by writing “The Dark Half.” It also shows Mr. King’s forays into other media. For example, Mr. King wrote an original screenplay, “Creepshow,” which is a sort of “Tales from the Crypt” with tongue firmly in cheek; indeed, Mr. King is the star in one story as a country bumpkin dealing with a meteor; you can tell he had a good time. And later, he described his disastrous foray into directing (“Maximum Overdrive”) as a very valuable experience in learning the very complicated process of making a movie, as well as his limitations behind the camera.
While Mr. Beahm indicates that Mr. King did not participate in any interviews for this book (indeed, he indicated that he didn’t really want it written), there is a good deal of research from written sources and interviews with others in his life, notably his childhood friend Christopher Chesley. While Mr. Beahm admits that this is not a scholarly work, there are extensive notes on sources, plus extensive annotated bibliographies on works both by and about Mr. King, as well as an index. There is a quote by Mr. King related to his writing “Danse Macabre,” a sort of history of horror in film and print, in which he basically states that when one writes fiction, one just makes things up as one goes along. But when writing nonfiction, one must constantly check facts and sources, making for a much longer and more difficult process. It seems that Mr. Beahm has had to do the same for this work.
And, of course, while the list of Mr. King’s opus appears very extensive, it only goes to 1991, when only the fourth of the “Dark Tower” series had been published. No “Under the Dome,” or “The Green Mile” or “Doctor Sleep” or the movie version of “The Shawshank Redemption” - I could go on and on. If it were updated, this book would be at least twice as long! Very interesting read, though.
What is much more fascinating, for me anyway, is the descriptions of how Mr. King worked on several projects at once, e.g. revising a collection of short stories while going on a book tour for a published novel. And also how the germ of an idea (the opening lines of “The Gunslinger” came to him many years before the book was fleshed out; the premise for “IT,” being the banding together of a band of misfit children to battle an evil presence, came to him several times at various levels of strength before the novel ever took form). And Mr. Beahm also addresses the Richard Bachman books and how Mr. King dealt with being “outed,” partially by writing “The Dark Half.” It also shows Mr. King’s forays into other media. For example, Mr. King wrote an original screenplay, “Creepshow,” which is a sort of “Tales from the Crypt” with tongue firmly in cheek; indeed, Mr. King is the star in one story as a country bumpkin dealing with a meteor; you can tell he had a good time. And later, he described his disastrous foray into directing (“Maximum Overdrive”) as a very valuable experience in learning the very complicated process of making a movie, as well as his limitations behind the camera.
While Mr. Beahm indicates that Mr. King did not participate in any interviews for this book (indeed, he indicated that he didn’t really want it written), there is a good deal of research from written sources and interviews with others in his life, notably his childhood friend Christopher Chesley. While Mr. Beahm admits that this is not a scholarly work, there are extensive notes on sources, plus extensive annotated bibliographies on works both by and about Mr. King, as well as an index. There is a quote by Mr. King related to his writing “Danse Macabre,” a sort of history of horror in film and print, in which he basically states that when one writes fiction, one just makes things up as one goes along. But when writing nonfiction, one must constantly check facts and sources, making for a much longer and more difficult process. It seems that Mr. Beahm has had to do the same for this work.
And, of course, while the list of Mr. King’s opus appears very extensive, it only goes to 1991, when only the fourth of the “Dark Tower” series had been published. No “Under the Dome,” or “The Green Mile” or “Doctor Sleep” or the movie version of “The Shawshank Redemption” - I could go on and on. If it were updated, this book would be at least twice as long! Very interesting read, though.
January 6, 2021
Have had this book for years, and of course a lot has happened with King's career since it was published, but I found it a decent read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews