Anne Rice Reader

by Katherine Ramsland (Editor)

A collection of the most fascinating essays, articles, and interpretations of bestselling author Anne Rice's complete works, by a variety of journalists and scholars. It includes a history of vampire literature, a professional dominatrix's examination of Rice's erotica, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film version of Interview with the Vampire . From the adventures of the Vampire Lestat to those of the Mayfair Witches, from the evocative historical epic Cry to Heaven to the uninhibited erotica of Exit to Eden and the Sleeping Beauty trilogy, The Anne Rice Reader presents a captivating range of perspectives on the imagination of a writer who has enthralled her generation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

369 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 1997

About the author

I've loved books since I was 3, and the library was a highlight of my childhood. I've been fortunate to be able to find great joy in what others have written and sometimes to give this to readers. I follow my own muse, because it leads me on interesting adventures. I began my writing career with "Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice." I had a bestseller with "The Vampire Companion." Since then, I've published 69 books and over 2,500 articles, reviews and short stories. I have also been an executive producer for "Murder House Flip" and "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer." From ghosts to vampires to serial killers, I have taken on a variety of dark subjects, mostly in crime and forensics. I hold graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, creative writing and philosophy. Currently, I teach forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University. My books include "I Scream Man," "How to Catch a Killer", "Confession of a Serial Killer", "The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds", "The Mind of a Murderer", "The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation", "Inside the Minds of Serial Killers", "Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators", and "Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers". My background in forensic studies positioned me to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, "The Cases that Haunt Us", and to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, "The Unknown Darkness", as well as "Spree Killers" with Mark Safarik, "The Real Life of a Forensic Scientist" with Henry C. Lee, and "A Voice for the Dead" with James Starrs. I speak internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder, and has appeared on numerous documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, Dr. Oz, Coast to Coast, Montel Williams, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood. Currently, I'm working on a fiction series, The Nut Cracker Investigations, which features a female forensic psychologist who manages a PI agency. "I Scream Man" is the first one.

Reviews

[raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to this insightful book, and the brilliant writers who came together to put it together, my respect for my favorite author has reached the stratosphere.

[Jaynie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a rabid Rice fan or perhaps I would have loved this more. I got it from the library to read the two short stories, October 4th, 1948 and Nicholas & Jean. I've read all of Rice's books now except for her Christian-phase books, so I wanted to get those under my belt and that's the only place I could find them. (And happy I was to find them anywhere!!). Both were good; though very short and therefore hard to classify as anything resembling finished. The first was just a taste of a character Rice seemed to have sketched out in case she wanted to write an actual story later; the second very condensed but eerie for all that. Nicholas & Jean (two man-boys) is more than a little creepy and unhealthy (in a bad way, not in an "Anne-Rice-way"); and I say that after having read all the Beauty books (and, as said above, all her other works). I kinda wish I hadn't read it as it is a little to haunting; something that I wish I'd never been exposed to. If that had been my first exposure to Rice's writing instead of my last, I wouldn't have read any of the others! Well, Anne Rice readers, I know that's like waving a red cape at a bull, but everyone has to make their own choices in life.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quotable:

The Egyptian attitude is reflected in their Book of the Dead. Unlike the scriptures of the Jews, Christians, and Moslems, this text does not tell a story of revelation, from beginning to end; rather, it is a patchwork of spells and prayers, accreted over the centuries, referring to diverse afterworlds, souls, and deities, without any effort to create a linear order or narrative. Indeed, in some copies of the book, if the scribe ran out of room at the edge of the papyrus, the text simply ends in midsentence. Reality, the book’s structure implies, is like that. In such an interpenetrating universe, there would seem no place for zones of absolute unreality (“mere imagination”); the sensory and the imaginal worlds are two sides of the same coin.

NO, NO, NO!!! She first started writing erotica in the mid-sixties after encountering Nabokov’s Lolita. Rice appreciated its elegant eroticism and cinematic language, and was particularly drawn to the way Nabokov portrayed the devotion of Humbert Humbert to the young Lolita. That such a controversial story could be published to great acclaim inspired her. “Lolita has had an influence on everything I’ve written,” Rice claims.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Anne Rice Reader: Writers Explore the Universe of Anne Rice by Katherine Ramsland (Ballantine 1997) (813.54). The focus here is on the technical side of writing. My rating: 6/10, finished 2006.

[Lindsey]

I was only particularly interested in the essays about the Vampire Chronicles. I found all of them to be quite interesting and insightful. My favorite was "He Must Have Wept When He Made You" as it discussed Jungian archetypes. I've always found Jungian archetypes to be extremely interesting.