On Stephen King

Stephen King is easy to read, easy to enjoy.  That's why I read him.  I started reading him in summer of 1984, when I was 11 years old.  I read Firestarter, and I was pretty proud of the accomplishment.  When I told my sixth-grade teacher that I'd read it the following fall, she told me that Stephen King isn't a serious writer.  I fell for it, not for the idea that Stephen King wasn't a serious writer, but for the idea that anyone isn't a serious writer.

Fast-forward 30 years.  After reading On Writing, I decided to read King's short stories.  I read every collection.  Since 2014, I've read:

• Carrie
• The Shining
• Firestarter
• Cujo
• The Running Man
• The Gunslinger
• The Drawing of the Three
• Misery
• The Waste Lands
• Wizard and Glass
• Wolves of the Calla
• Song of Susanna
• The Dark Tower
• 11/22/63
• Doctor Sleep
• Mr. Mercedes
• Finders Keepers
• On Writing (nonfiction)
• The Night Shift (short story collection)
• Different Seasons (novella collection)
• Skeleton Crew (short story collection)
• Four Past Midnight (novella collection)
• Nightmares & Dreamscapes (short story collection)
• Hearts in Atlantis (novella collection)
• Everything's Eventual (short story collection)
• Just After Sunset (short story collection)
• Full Dark, No Stars (novella collection)
• Bazaar of Bad Dreams (short story collection)

My favorites are the novella collections, the short story collections, The Shining, 11/22/63, and Finders Keepers.  While I wouldn't count King among my eight or 10 favorite prose writers, his books are easy to find at the library and overdrive, and I've even bought a few.