Forget Stephen King’s On Writing. His best book on writing might be Misery.
My son has become a Stephen King fan and he just checked out Misery from the school library. I picked it up after he finished and raced through it. I first read it years ago. Still vivid, still as heart-stopping scary as I remembered.
But I had forgotten how much good writing wonkery there was. You could do worse than pick up Misery just for that alone.
Damn good stuff, plus we had an enjoyable time talking gleefully over the book when A had finished. Stephen King — bringing parents and teens together over the dinner table.
October 19th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I think I agree with you and your son. MISERY has it all. And what a cool suggestion to other writers that they use the book as a text for good writing. My husband and I loved talking to our kids about the books they were reading. Our sons, in particular, loved to discuss everything from King’s CUJO to NEUROMANCER by Gibson. Families who read together, read together forever.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Misery was actually required reading back in my high school creative writing class. This was still a year or two before On Writing. So yeah, even teachers seem to agree with you.