Stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. Since 1974, king has published over sixty novels, a handful of nonfiction books, and countless short stories, as well as penned graphic novels, a screenplay, a musical libretto, and a childrens book straight out of his own dark tower universe. List of best stephen king books to read in 2020 stephen king has so many nailbiting classics to his name that it is unfair to classify or rank them. A vast majority of his many, many books are addictive pageturners, and. At 71, stephen king is still at the top of his game and is showing no signs of slowing down.
When i was a voracious bookworm, constantly outreading my budget, my mom tried to get me interested in stephen king. The writing style of stephen king freelancewriting. Stephen kings writing career began more than 40 years ago with the release of carrie in 1974, the success of which allowed him to quit his day. Stephen king is an alltime great, arguably one of the most popular novelists the world has ever seen. Short story collections from authors like stephen king. Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a 2006 novel about a woman coping with. His reading tastes are varied, from mystery to graphic novels to literary fiction to memoir. When he loves a book, he isnt shy about telling the world and using his influence to help spread the word about great writers.
It may not be fashionable to say it, but stephen king is one of the most gifted and prolific american writers in history. Stephen edwin king is an american author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. Stephen kings reading list for writers books and writing. The artwork from pet sematary, without doubt one of the best stephen king books of all time. Stephen king s style is to a very much degree characterized by his usual choice of characters. Its clearly a matter of style, but if there are too many adverbs as in harry potter then its about a convincing a target audience with a specific demo.
Stephen king books, ranked from worst to best looking back over more than 40 years worth of the writers work. Heres some background on the mainebased writer and a bibliography, featuring details about some of his most notable works. His recent work includes the institute, elevation, the outsider, sleeping beauties cowritten with his son owen king, and the bill hodges trilogy. Stephen king is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers.
The 10 best movies based on stephen king books according to imdb apart from writing, stephen king has had a hand in movies as his novels constantly get produced. The book exemplifies the genre of magical realism, in which king introduces his readers to. And like any maine bookworm with a love of the macabre, i adored him as sort of local hero. Stephen king books download free books online 8freebooks. Stephen king is one of the most famous writers in the world, an artist who has been. For those unfamiliar with king, he is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers this book details king s writing career and covers everything from his childhood to selling carrie. Only stephen king is the best author to write horror and thrilling book. Authors similar to stephen king goodreads share book. A roundup of some of the biggest stephen king characters who appear in multiple novels. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and five nonfiction.
By far, the best writing advice ive found is stephen king s book on writing. Stephen king slams hachette book group for dropping woody. Described as the king of horror, king s books have sold over 350 million copies worldwide and have been adapted into a number of different mediums including film, television, and comic books. How do you think stephen king came up with all his book ideas. These authors like stephen king will appeal to his fans, but each is still doing their own thing and making their own mark on the horror genre. From his first novel, carrie, to 2019s the institute, king conjures tales. Its hard to break down any writers style without sounding like a haughty literary professor, but ill give it a shot. Wikimedia commons this past year ive been devouring advice books from fellow writers.
Author stephen king pet sematary recommends his favorite booksincluding underground railroad by colson whitehead, case. Ten things i learned about writing from stephen king. Writing news peculiarities of stephen kings writing style. Stephen king is one of the most prolific authors of the modern age whose last name isnt patterson.
But if its storytelling style you are looking for, then the writers to track down are don. The book is also filled with writing lessons and teaches the importance of narration, dialogue, and. Stephen king s writing spans more than 40 years and more than 60 books, and while the content of his fiction varies widely, lying underneath it is a picture of the contemporary world that his. Stephen king books, ranked from worst to best vulture.
His books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television series, and comic books. Stephen king has had an uncanny ability to hit the commercial bullseye from the beginning of his career. In our recent interview with stephen king, we asked the author to name the best book he ever wrote. Stephen edwin king born september 21, 1947 is an american author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, and fantasy novels. The film, written by longtime stephen king adapter frank darabont, is based on one of king s most literary works, a 1982 novella about an agonizingly slow prison break. Without a moments hesitation he went with liseys story, a. King has published 61 novels including seven under the pen name richard bachman and six nonfiction books. But with the upcoming release of kings newest book, the highly. Harrigans phone, the life of chuck, rat and the title story if it bleeds each pulling readers into. Stephen kings top writing tips the writing cooperative. Stephen king is one of the most famous writers in the world, an artist who has been so successfulcommercially, artistically, pop culturallyfor so many years, he has become a genre unto himself.
Very few writers live to see other writers analyzed against their output, but its so common to call a w. For more recommended books, see stephen king s reading list part ii and part iii. I love you always stephen king and i will always support you. And theres a good chance that hes inspired more people to start writing than any other. I love horror because i read his book since i was child and now im grown up with his book. On writing by stephen king is part memoir and part master class. While writer stephen king was recovering from a nearfatal car accident, he finished a nonfiction book about the craft of writing. What i wonder is why everybody doesnt carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life. That is why we have decided to name 11 of our favorite stephen classics which we believe you should pick up for a visceral reading experience. Stephen king took to twitter sunday to reassure his 5. This makes picking the best stephen king books a daunting challenge. Just in the last three or four weeks people are saying to me, we are living in a stephen king world, and boy, all i can say is i wish we werent, king, who has sold an estimated 350m.
First, its worth recognizing that king s conversational style that storyteller vibe everyone always talks about is done by. A definitive ranking of every stephen king novel ever. In a 2000 interview with terry gross, king talked about the. Prolific author stephen king is widely regarded as the master of horror. At the beginning of stephen king s career, the general view among publishers was that an author was limited to one book per year, since publishing more would be more. From an oeuvre of almost 100 books, here are the best stephen king books, ranked. To remind writers of his advice, here is a short extract from his book, stephen king. Because readers can identify with many of king s threedimensional, dynamic characters, his stories captivate and engage his loyal fans and firsttime readers. The 10 best movies based on stephen king books according. The 10 best stephen king books monsters and critics. His colleagues and criticsand perhaps stephen king himselfmiss what makes his writing great. If a writer doesnt have a decent style, his works will be unreadable, even if their plot is brilliant. A psychologicalhorror series set in the stephen king multiverse, castle rock combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of king s bestloved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of maine woodland. Stephen king has transcended anything we could muster up to write about him in 2019.
Who are some authors that are similar to stephen king. Stephen king s legacy as a bestselling horrorpsychological fiction writer is attributed to his writing style. Author stephen king is horrified by a new york publishers decision to drop woody allens memoir hachette book group scrapped apropos of nothing, which was scheduled to come out next. 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.
Here are eight authors, similar to stephen king in their likes and works, whose books you can read to further thrill yourselves. These stephen king characters all appear in multiple books. As one of the most prolific horror and suspense writers in the biz, stephen king has enough books in his extensive oeuvre to last thriller readers. Here are 50 mustread books recommended by stephen king over the years, and if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list, ive made a few of my own book suggestions for the king.
Here are 14 amazing books from stephen king s reading list to dive into. Stephen king is one of the most prolific authors alive, known for writing horror, fantasy, and psychological thrillers. Author stephen king, the undisputed legend of modern genre. Top 11 best stephen king books everyone should read in 2020. Author stephen king pet sematary recommends his favorite books including underground railroad by colson whitehead, case. Fans of stephen king should also check out this amazing graphic of the steph en king universe designed by australian illustrator gillian james, as well as this video in which king discusses the art of the short story. Kings the green mile is a serial novel published in 1996. In the 40 years since his first novel, carrie, he has published more than 50 books. The following is a complete list of books published by stephen king, an american author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Is stephen kings adverbs rule going out of fashion. At the beginning of stephen kings career, the general view among publishers was that an author was limited to one book per year, since publishing more would.
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