Apt pupil, misery and the gunslinger inspired a skeleton in the closet, misery loves company and lone justice respectively. He also happens to be one of my favorite storytellers, an author i. Stephen king is one of the most prolific authors in the world, with more than 50 books in print, and more coming out every year. Did stephen kings writing change after he got clean. From an oeuvre of almost 100 books, here are the best stephen king books, ranked. Stephen king was raised by a single workingclass mother after his father walked out on the family when the future author was 2 years old. A list of stephen king s novels, organized oldest to newest. The most popular ones would probably be carrie and it. Ever wondered how to write a book like stephen king. Somewhere under the heartpounding, jittery selfloathing, theres a fascinating germ of an ideaalien artifacts including an entire spaceship are compulsively unearthed by folks in a small. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. In it, a deadly virus, known as the super flu or captain trips, sweeps across the world.
The list of books and their page counts was supplied by king s office and refers to the american hardcover editions. I could clearly see that there were many chapters which could have been. To the constant readers, though, its a definite musthave. Among the living is the only anthraxking joint that is absolutely essential to the bands legacy. Kings first book after getting sober was needful things published in 1991. A year later kings amateur press triad and gaslight books, published a two part book titled the star invaders. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many of them have been adapted into feature films, television movies and comic books.
The stand was his version of lord of the rings and it was already plenty long in 1990 when he added 329 pages to make it. Stephen king has an idea for the story joe biden could be. King on king stephen king on his 10 longest novels. So forget what youve seen in the movieswhether youre new to stephen king s oeuvre, or youre working on indoctrinating a friend, reading the following 10 books is nonnegotiable. Kings latest, under the dome, is his third longest novel ever. Obiwan librarian america has a very tenuous relationship with books, and literacy in general. How stephen king predicted the coronavirus pandemic. The book of alma is the longest book in the book of mormon. Author cemetery dance online posted on september 8, 2017 september 8, 2017 categories what i learned from stephen king tags columns, it, jason sechrest, stephen king, what i learned from stephen king when i was 10 years old, i sent stephen king the first thing i had ever written. It remains the only stephen king book i ever put down. It originally was turned into miniseries starring gary senise in 1994, and is now being adapted into a tenepisode, limited series. In this way, king s books transcend genre and appeal to all lovers of the written word. There came a time when i said to my wife tabby, i want to write this book, but we live in the country, and i want to write about a city, a whole haunted city, so we ought to move to either. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation.
In an interview with time, the prolific author reflected on his ten most monstrously large books. Revival is a return to stephen kings favourite genre, horror but more than that it is storytelling of the best kind. His mother died the same year from cancer at the age of 59. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. King talked to time about his top 10 biggest books, reflecting on the circumstances under which they were written and the critical reception that they received. For a full list of record titles, please use our record. Stephen king wrote many books and there were a lot of really popular ones. The stand is a postapocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by american author stephen king and first published in 1978 by doubleday. The classic account of the allied invasion of normandy. How stephen king predicted trumps rise decades ago. Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a.
Stephen king adaptations are extremely popular in movies and tv these days, and he. It may be a matter of numeric measurement, but thickest doesnt necessarially mean hardest, or even longest. All records listed on our website are current and uptodate. I recorded and mixed and edited the entire book once, listened to it for a couple of months, then started all over from the beginning. I think it just had too many characters for my adolescent brain to deal with. When it came out in 1986, it was the longest book stephen king had ever written. It was written at the height of his substance abuse problems, and the whole book is a mishmas. King has published 63 novels, including seven under. End of watch, the third book in his hardboiled detective trilogy, is due out in june. Not big as in tom wolfeesque, the way we live now big, but big as in this book is literally, physically huge. This is an interesting question to me because ive spent the last yearplus reading and rereading a lot of stephen king works. The sheer number of film and television adaptations of stephen king s stories alone 50plus, and countingfrom stanley kubricks thriller, the shining 1980 to rob reiners stand by me 1986 and hbos 2020 miniseries, the outsiderwould have made king the undisputed master of horror.
Interestingly, the book that got me to stop reading was it. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. Stephen edwin king, born in 1947, published his first novel, carrie, in 1974. The plot centers on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills almost the entire world population. Jun 21, 2006 a year later king s amateur press triad and gaslight books, published a two part book titled the star invaders. The few survivors, united in groups, establish a new social system and engage in confrontation with each other.
Evil clowns, giant spiders, walking eyeballs the works. Stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. Mar 09, 2020 the book was king s fourth novel and longest, standalone book. The following is a complete list of books published by stephen king, an american author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. But you dont have to be a dark tower fan to find value in it. Proust produced the first volume of his volume masterpiece in 1912 it was first published in 19. Stephen edwin king born september 21, 1947 is an american author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, and fantasy novels. I will admit, the pictures are a little off a little stephen king for a picture book. Nov 09, 2009 author stephen king has a reputation for the big book.
It has since been surpassed by the stand which runs 1,153 pages to its 1,8. Its like the worlds longest back fence that neighbors gossip over. Stephen king wrote this book based on a fictional book in his dark tower series. The long walk is actually the first novel stephen king wrotehe just didnt finish and sell. King s latest, under the dome, is his third longest novel ever.
Mar 06, 2017 stephen king wrote this book based on a fictional book in his dark tower series. Stephen kings classic 1978 novel the stand spins a yarn so big, only the small screen can contain it. This week, stephen king releases his latest novel, mr. Since then, he has written more than 70 novels, nonfiction books and story collections. Stephen kings first true novel was also one of his best known works, carrie, which was published in 1974. Jun 23, 2018 its pretty generally accepted that the tommyknockers is the worst novel written by stephen king even he himself isnt particularly proud of the work. Her work has appeared regularly in the orlando sentinel. I found it funny in the prologue section entitled the importance of being bachman, king writes that he used his secret alias for when he felt that he had a really dark.
The more cynical way is that it was the point where king s editors stopped reigning him in. In our recent interview with stephen king, we asked the author to name the best book he ever wrote. In between the kings moved to southern maine due to the poor health of stephens mother. Clocking in at a whopping 18 pages, it is second only to the stand which came in at 1153 pages as king s longest work to date. He has published 61 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and six nonfiction books. Contents of this site including text and media may not be reproduced without prior written consent. Audio and video elements of this site are property of their respective owners and are used with permission. Stephen king predicted the coronavirus pandemic and has been hearing a lot about how much people feel they are living in one of his novels, particularly the stand. It is his 65th book, if you count novels, nonfiction, and shortstory collections, and we are using its publication as an excuse to. Asked in horror, horror and suspense movies, stephen king is there a sequel to stephen kings cell.
Jan 12, 2018 king has been open about his past drug abuse and other issues, and admits he wrote this book while high as a kite. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels to date, in fact, with number 52 coming up shortly. On one hand, youre here, reading these words, and only about 25% of you have to slowlymouthoutthewordsasyoureadalong. King wrote what would become salems lot while the family stayed at the summer cottage. Rumors among kings fans suggested that the book was too.
Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a 2006 novel about a woman coping with. The longest book ive recorded thus far has been mark twains a connecticut yankee in king arthurs court, which was and a half hours. Ten songs inspired by stephen king decibel magazine. Nov 05, 2014 in our recent interview with stephen king, we asked the author to name the best book he ever wrote. A 500 page penguin classic may be the same length as a page popular fiction book as the printing is so small, and the pages are so thin. A list of stephen kings novels, organized oldest to newest. Its pretty generally accepted that the tommyknockers is the worst novel written by stephen king even he himself isnt particularly proud of the work. Below is a list of stephen kings books in order of when they were originally published. Remembrance rock was sandburgs only novel, and it clearly meant a lot to him, personally. Also, length is no measure of the difficulty in reading a book. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep.
Carl sandburg won two pulitzer prizes during his lifetime, one for a biography of abraham lincoln, and the other for a book of poetry. The actually horror elements are tentative and the novel relies more of the brooding sense of the possible horrors to come. Top 10 longest novels in the english language listverse. See where misery, the shining, pet sematary, and the dark tower land and which horror gem takes the top spot. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, ryan painstakingly recreates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that. Hes called the king for a reason, and its not just his last name. Stephen king has written in just about every genre imaginable, has sold over 350 million copies of his books, and has had work adapted to movies, miniseries, and comics. The letter i wrote to stephen king, and the response that. Stephen king insists the coronavirus is not like his killer. Sep 04, 2017 new yorks big 4 representatives often name drop stephen king. Author stephen king has a reputation for the big book. But according to stephen king, donald trump in reality is even scarier than what he wrote. There are a couple of different ways you can look at that. The longest day is cornelius ryans unsurpassed account of dday, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history.
The second part of his work won international awards as soon as it was published and with them, an international reputation. Nov 09, 2009 get this book the tale of an ancient childkilling creature who lives in the sewers under the haunted town of derry, it 1,8 pages is kings kitchensink book. It was still sitting on my bookshelf with a marker in page 324, left there in 1987. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and five nonfiction. Every single stephen king book, ranked from worst to best. It is also one of the original stories that king wrote as richard bachman.