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Stephen King, American Master: A Creepy Corpus of Facts About Stephen King & His Work
A fun and informative compendium for Stephen King fans—interviews, essays, and loads of facts and details about all of his work.
Fascinating facts, trivia, and little-known details about the Master of the Macabre’s life and work, plus interviews, essays, and insights for King fans, from the casual to the fanatical!
Did you know…?
Fascinating facts, trivia, and little-known details about the Master of the Macabre’s life and work, plus interviews, essays, and insights for King fans, from the casual to the fanatical!
Did you know…?
432 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2018
41 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 23, 2019
A great compendium of Stephen King facts.
A liked the ways it is organized. As every section is from a different author, the pace never tires.
Loved to read about one of my beloved authors
A liked the ways it is organized. As every section is from a different author, the pace never tires.
Loved to read about one of my beloved authors
May 24, 2020
Quite a fun and illuminating compendium for fans of Stephen King. Essays, interviews and lots of facts and hidden gems about his body of work.
Enthralling facts, little known details, trivia and tidbits about the Master of the Macabre, from the casual fan to the fanatical: -
- King originally thought his novel Pet Sematary was too frightening to publish 😏
- In his early teens, Stephen King sold typed copies of his short stories at school
- King's legendary Dark Tower series took him more than 30 years to write
- He never liked Stanley Kubrick's film version of his novel
- It took him 4 years to write, what some consider to be his magnum opus, IT
One of my favourite pieces of wisdom from King as a successful writer is this - 'Read a lot and write a lot'
CPH
Enthralling facts, little known details, trivia and tidbits about the Master of the Macabre, from the casual fan to the fanatical: -
- King originally thought his novel Pet Sematary was too frightening to publish 😏
- In his early teens, Stephen King sold typed copies of his short stories at school
- King's legendary Dark Tower series took him more than 30 years to write
- He never liked Stanley Kubrick's film version of his novel
- It took him 4 years to write, what some consider to be his magnum opus, IT
One of my favourite pieces of wisdom from King as a successful writer is this - 'Read a lot and write a lot'
CPH
November 7, 2018
Fun and fact-filled read - revealing many new details about Mr. King that even Constant Readers may not have heard of before. You can read the book straight up or in coffee break sized chunks.
March 13, 2019
I'm struggling to rate this objectively, as I have an essay in this one. Maybe it's not objective. I'm okay with that.
Spignesi is one of the best writers on Stephen King. His Shape Under the Sheet: The Stephen King Encyclopedia offered a vast-ranging and semi-academic look at King's work up to 1991, around the time that George Beahm's Stephen King Companion was giving new fans an accessible overview of the writer's oeuvre. Spignesi has continued the trend, giving us a King "best-of" list (The Essential SK) and a book about King's then unpublished work (The Lost Work of SK). All are presented in fan-accessible style that supposes fan interest but not obsession. That's the perfect thing for this book, and also the reason I might have liked it a lot more if I was just getting into King now.
My problem is that I'm a Stephen King expert. I've read everything King has published and a lot he hasn't. I've written my own books on King. So SK: American Master wasn't really a book meant for me. Still, as a fan, I do get excited about King's newer work being represented in companion books like this. I remember reading a newer version of Beahm's Companion and seeing a listing for Desperation and The Regulators as upcoming books, and I got so pumped. Also, the more time that goes by, and the more books King writes, the more we get to see King's work as an entire body of work, stretching back farther and farther in time. This allows us to have contemporary essays (like mine in here, "The Stephen King Immersion Phenomenon") that tackle themes of King's newer work, and compare and contrast with his more vintage stuff.
Basically, if you're new to the world of King, get this book. Even if you're not that new, get this book. The only King fans who don't need a book like this are ones with essays in the book.
Spignesi is one of the best writers on Stephen King. His Shape Under the Sheet: The Stephen King Encyclopedia offered a vast-ranging and semi-academic look at King's work up to 1991, around the time that George Beahm's Stephen King Companion was giving new fans an accessible overview of the writer's oeuvre. Spignesi has continued the trend, giving us a King "best-of" list (The Essential SK) and a book about King's then unpublished work (The Lost Work of SK). All are presented in fan-accessible style that supposes fan interest but not obsession. That's the perfect thing for this book, and also the reason I might have liked it a lot more if I was just getting into King now.
My problem is that I'm a Stephen King expert. I've read everything King has published and a lot he hasn't. I've written my own books on King. So SK: American Master wasn't really a book meant for me. Still, as a fan, I do get excited about King's newer work being represented in companion books like this. I remember reading a newer version of Beahm's Companion and seeing a listing for Desperation and The Regulators as upcoming books, and I got so pumped. Also, the more time that goes by, and the more books King writes, the more we get to see King's work as an entire body of work, stretching back farther and farther in time. This allows us to have contemporary essays (like mine in here, "The Stephen King Immersion Phenomenon") that tackle themes of King's newer work, and compare and contrast with his more vintage stuff.
Basically, if you're new to the world of King, get this book. Even if you're not that new, get this book. The only King fans who don't need a book like this are ones with essays in the book.
September 3, 2019
“Stephen King American Master” by Stephen Spignesi is divided into several parts: Interviews/Essays by and with Stephen King experts/fans; a list and discussion of his novels; a list and discussion of his short stories; a list and discussion of his novellas; fourteen notable non-fiction Stephen King works; a discussion of poems that King has written; and finally a list/discussion of thirty-eight notable and unpublished short stories and other works by King.
As a fan of both Stephen King and Stephen Spignesi, I was eager to read “Stephen King American Master” and I really enjoyed it. The interviews/essays were great – as a long time Stephen King fan I recognized most of the contributors and enjoyed reading what they had to say. The lists/discussions of the novels, short stories, and novellas are in chronological order which I really appreciated. Spignesi largely avoids spoilers in this section and there are no book summaries but there are some nice little bullet points about each book/story. I really liked this section (and the Essential Stephen King Ranking Spignesi gives to many of the works although that could use some updating) – I have read all of Stephen King’s short stories but reading this book made me realized that there are many short stories that I’ve forgotten about through the years and now I want to reread them. In fact, reading this book makes me want to reread all of Stephen King’s works – it has made me realize once again how much I love Stephen King!
As a fan of both Stephen King and Stephen Spignesi, I was eager to read “Stephen King American Master” and I really enjoyed it. The interviews/essays were great – as a long time Stephen King fan I recognized most of the contributors and enjoyed reading what they had to say. The lists/discussions of the novels, short stories, and novellas are in chronological order which I really appreciated. Spignesi largely avoids spoilers in this section and there are no book summaries but there are some nice little bullet points about each book/story. I really liked this section (and the Essential Stephen King Ranking Spignesi gives to many of the works although that could use some updating) – I have read all of Stephen King’s short stories but reading this book made me realized that there are many short stories that I’ve forgotten about through the years and now I want to reread them. In fact, reading this book makes me want to reread all of Stephen King’s works – it has made me realize once again how much I love Stephen King!
April 28, 2019
Having recently completed reading all of King's works I tackled this. The first part is essays written by various people and don't really seem to have any concept. Some are interesting but others feel like reading a book report. The second part lists all of King's works. I found this part even more frustrating. Random bullet points are listed that again, don't follow any certain format or agenda. Later books get one or two bullet points. There are also times the author mentions a bit of info as if everyone knows what he's talking about. I think if you're a hardcore fan you'll find this amateur and if you're a newer or less experienced fan you won't learn much.
February 18, 2024
A decent-enough, if strangely-formatted, overview of the works of Stephen King. There are some serious King experts contributing here. As someone who has been a dedicated fan of Stephen King since the early 1980s (so not just a casual reader but more a constant one) there were still a great deal that I did not know.
It's a warmly-written book but the synopsis of the novels, short stories, novellas and non-fiction at the end of the book had repetitive facts attributed, but otherwise this is an enjoyable read and something that should interest fans of Mr King's writing.
It's a warmly-written book but the synopsis of the novels, short stories, novellas and non-fiction at the end of the book had repetitive facts attributed, but otherwise this is an enjoyable read and something that should interest fans of Mr King's writing.
July 12, 2024
This book is a thorough accounting of almost everything that Stephen King has ever written. Within those descriptions you will find nuggets of information about the author and his life. I discovered works I did not know about but now want to read, so my "to be read" pile has grown significantly. My movie "to be watched" list has also grown, as a few movies are mentioned here that I have not viewed. Overall, I think this is a worthwhile read for all King fans.
September 25, 2023
Great fact book for King fans!
This is mainly an assortment of essays, musings, lists, etc. Much of the it has been previously published, but it was new to me. It thoroughly covers ALL of King's works - not only his fiction, but also his vast collection of non-fiction, including works that have since been lost.
I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This is mainly an assortment of essays, musings, lists, etc. Much of the it has been previously published, but it was new to me. It thoroughly covers ALL of King's works - not only his fiction, but also his vast collection of non-fiction, including works that have since been lost.
I thoroughly enjoyed it!
October 25, 2020
Fun read. Would recommend for the avid Stephen King fan like myself. The only thing is make sure you read all King books before you read. Lot of cool facts and lots of spoilers about the breakdowns of each book. If your like me, I like to go into a King book completely in the dark.
January 4, 2026
I found an error and it's a plot error which makes me believe, although I could be mistaken, that the synopsis was based on the movie and not the book. It was just one that I found but it was enough for me to DNF.
January 12, 2021
Would have been better if there was an index.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2021
An overly elementary book. I don't know why I was expecting an intelligent argument but really this is just a fanboy work. Impossible to finish.
October 17, 2021
Lots and lots of good information in one place. If you're not a King fan, probably not a good book for you. For me it, I will never say that King is my guilty pleasure again. The guilt is gone. While I am not a fan of horror I am a huge fan of King and have been since I read my first King novel back in 1980.
January 13, 2022
While I would debate this author all day on his rankings of most important of stephen king's work, I enjoyed and shared in his passion for King's work. I learned many fun facts and this book encouraged me to get to reading some books of his that I have not yet gotten to.
November 19, 2023
An excellent analysis of all things King for any fan!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews