Stephen King is one of the world's most famous writers, and for a genre that before him got little respect; horror. (Even Edgar Allan Poe didn't get his just due until after he died.) Stephen King's list of books, movie adaptations and short stories is so lengthy, so well known, and so successful, that we could never possibly give him all the accolades he deserves.
He might not be the greatest literary mind, but he has one of the greatest minds. After all, he struck a chord with his core audience didn't he? How else can you explain the fact that he has sold over 100 million copies of his books?
Despite his success, he remains pretty much reclusive in Maine, with plenty of little quirks to keep psychologists confused for decades to come. Did you know that the King of Horror can't sleep with the lights off?
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Stephen King is an eccentric fellow, but you need someone like that to come up with the kind of material he has produced over the years. What his M.O. does is create a sense of endearment with fans. When he got badly injured by a van 1999, loyal fans offered their blood at the local hospital.
Though Stephen has permanent physical ailments as a result of the accident, he hasn't lost his sense of humor. He purchased the van that caused him so much pain for $1500, so he could smash it with a sledgehammer.
Stephen's greatest gift is his imagination. He has no pretentions about being the next Hemingway or Fitzgerald. He knows what he does best is scare people, though both the Green Mile and his short-story that became the basis for The Shawshank Redemption show that his range as a writer is incredible.
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Flash in the pan. No. Lowest common denominator. Hardly. He has written enough classics, while at the same time remaining unique, to be a genre unto himself. And I have a feeling that he has not even written his best book yet. King, when at the top of his game presents a universality, a timeless portrait of the human condition with which the greatest and least of us and all others in between can identify. He remains fresh with each new offering. Yet, his books, from the first page to the last, are as comfortable as that old pair of shoes that you simply cannot give up. You know the pair. The pair the spiders just crawled into.
