The Washington Post has started a series where people they deem “notable” offer a tour of their personal libraries. Reporter John Williams (not to be confused with Composer John Williams) traveled up to Bangor, Maine where master-of-horror author Stephen King greeted Williams at the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation. Located in an 1845 historical house the Kings used to live in, the home features a meticulously kept family library on the downstairs level. Needless to say, going through the space was a nostalgic exercise for King:
He is so sweetly in love with his wife: Several shelves are taken up with themed series of books, many of them gifts to King from his wife of more than 50 years, Tabitha, whose own collection lives here, too. More than once while we talked, King paused to say, “I wish Tabby was here.”
The most important thing to know about writing: Richard Matheson, author of “I Am Legend” and much else, gave King an even more specific piece of advice, after King sent him a copy of “Salem’s Lot.” “He used to type on these little notepapers, and he sent me a letter back on one of those,” King said. “He thanked me for the book, and then at the bottom he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you the most important thing that I know about writing.’ And I thought, Oh my god, I’m really gonna get something here. And I turned it over and it said: ‘Get a music stand.’ Then you don’t have to turn your head back and forth to the page, because it was in the days when you typed things.” Did he take the advice and get one? “No, I never did. And I never had neck problems either.”
The root of his love of horror? King pulled a set of “Tales From the Crypt” off the shelf, solemnly recited its title and let out a cartoonishly evil cackle. “These twisted me as a kid,” he said. “I was 10 or 11. My aunt was concerned; my mother was not.
Legacy: A few minutes later, I asked whether he considered his legacy himself. “I don’t think about legacy very much,” he said. “I don’t understand why there would possibly be one. When you’re a popular novelist — I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do the best job that I can, and I always try to find something to say. If you’re not saying something that you cared about, why bother? There are very few popular novelists who have a life after death… I think that a couple of the horror novels might last. They might be read 50 or a hundred years from now, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Salem’s Lot’ and ‘It.’ If you ask people, ‘What vampire do you know?,’ they’d say, ‘Dracula.’ ‘Well, who invented Dracula?’ ‘I don’t [expletive] know.’ So, 50 or a hundred years from now, people will say: ‘Oh, Pennywise, the clown. Yeah, sure.’ ‘Who is Stephen King?’ They won’t know.”
The Kings can’t part with a book after reading: Pointing at the shelves of fiction, King said: “That’s everything that I’ve read or that Tabby’s read. These are all read books and loved books. We can’t throw a book away, none of us can.”
Hardcovers are worthy indulgences: I remarked on the fact that all of the books on the fiction shelves — or very nearly all — were hardcovers. King said that was to make up for not having them growing up. “When I was a kid and I was poor,” King said, “the idea that you could buy a hardcover for the astronomical price of $6, when you could get a paperback for 35 cents? No.” The first hardcover he ever bought, when he was in college, was William Manchester’s “Death of a President,” about the Kennedy assassination, which he gave to his mother for her birthday.
This is such a lovely little jaunt with Stephen King! It’s endearing to follow along his trips down memory lane. I also love how the books he highlights are clearly old friends. (Books are friends and should not be banned!) And I’m in total agreement about hardcovers. If I had the money I would buy all hardcovers too. I always find myself holding them with reverence and extra care. Alas, I’m still working towards having Stephen King money. As for his legacy, he is leaving a long one. He’s so prolific — and still writing! — and yet seems to have a fairly casual, low-key opinion of his own work. I kind of think he’s right, though, that the characters will probably live on longer than his name will. But I put a lot of that down to film adaptations making the characters more visible. A lot of people will have only watched The Shining, not read it. If it’s any comfort to Stephen (and I hope it is), I for one will always remember him as the man who nearly drove his wife to divorce over endlessly blasting Mambo No. 5.
Happy Halloween.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2023
I think he’s wrong – his name will be remembered. He’s terrific – he has a great book on writing tips. It’s very funny but also exactly right. He seems like a good human, and there are so very few of them these days.
When books have been made into movies so extensively as his have, he is probably right. Readers will likely remember his name.
this is really lovely to read, I love how he buys hardcovers only to make up for not being able to do so. I buy a mix, mainly bc I dont have the room to store hardcovers lol. And I do give books away, again, I just dont have the room. But I also do not have Stephen King money, if i did I would just keep adding library space to my house lol.
I do think he’s someone who has a pretty big name that will carry over for a few generations. A hundred years? Maybe not. But we remember Mr. Darcy and Jane Austen, so why cant we remember Pennywise and Stephen King?
Agreed, his name will live on. I can’t throw away books either. I’ve got a bathroom cabinet full of books, as my bookshelves are full, lol.
Whether his name will live on or not, I couldn’t say, but in an age where the average American is reading one book a year, I can’t help but respect and admire someone who has such a reverence for his books. I guarantee his books aren’t on the shelf with the spines facing the wall. Books are friends!
I don’t buy a ton of books. I borrow a lot from the library. If I had unlimited funds, my house would have a dedicated library with cosy reading nooks and I’d buy all the books.
I knew his name when I was a kid and not even from an English speaking country.
I’d say he is more famous than any of his characters.
Agree. I’m jealous of the library of books. Also want to know how it’s organized. Hoping it’s not. Stephen King’s name should live on as one of the best writers.imo
I still cackle about the Mambo No. 5 story. It’s a perky energizing song.
This man is a national treasure and one of the few reasons to stay on Twitter, where he happily interacts with us common folk.
Mark Hamil, another national treasure and reason to stay on Twitter, is about to begin filming on a King story, along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tom Hiddleston, and Karen Gillen. I look forward to the interactions between Stephen and Mark as the film progresses.
His issue with being remembered for his characters, not his name, will be that he has so many characters! Although, like Dracula, so many people come to the character via the movies, not the book. Also, Dracula was written when copyrights were much shorter, so after a certain point, anyone could use the Dracula name.
On buying books. I used to have a problem with it. I’d go to the bookstore, buy a pile of books and read one or two before I’d have more coming in. Ending up doing a huge purge of unread books before a big move. Now I’m a library reader and much happier. The due date means what comes home is much more likelier to be read. And if they go back unread, I can just check them out again when I have the time or motivation.
Books are friends! My two favorite pieces of furniture are my bookshelves.
I love that he doesn’t take himself too seriously even though he’s one of the most popular popular novelists of our time.
I absolutely love this man. I bought my first hardback Stephen King novel, The Stand, when I was 12 and have read it every 5-6years. I got the original book I bought at 12 back when my father passed away a few years ago. He kept it for many years, along with our whole Stephen King collection and I cherish it.
I love Stephen King and I disagree. I think his name will live on just as his characters do. I’m an avid reader and his books never fail to freak me TF out. From Salem’s Lot to the Shining to Pet Sematery to Under the Dome… I’ve never been let down by a King novel!
Oh don’t worry Stephen, you will definitely be remembered. I haven’t read many of his books, just Pet Sematary and I started The Dark Tower series on my Kindle about a decade ago but I’d have to restart because I don’t remember much. Just a mysterious cowboy man wandering around a desert in the first book and references to a Dark Tower. But Pet Sematary is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, so much so I refuse to see the movie adaptations.
Oh and I read his writing memoir On Writing back in high school, where he talks about how he almost died after getting hit by a car while he was out on a walk. Really great book.
His take on pop culture, Danse Macabre, is quite good as well…
I went through a phase from mid/late teens to early 20’s when I read a lot of his books then I started to get too scared and I had to stop. He’s an amazing writer and I’m very confident that his name and work will live on for a long time.
I felt all warm and nice hearing him talk about his books and library. I (sadly) have not read all the books on my shelves but the movers were very unimpressed when they saw the number of boxes of books they ad to shift the last time I moved house. The main reason I want to do a loft conversion (other than having a dedicated spare room) is for more bookshelf space.
My uncle used to send me Stephen King books when I was little; I’d get one a new one for my birthday and Christmas every year. People will definitely remember his name long from now. He’s a great writer and a lovely human.
I have boundless respect for Stephen King–one of my favorite authors and people. He survived a rough childhood and an addiction that almost took him out. He can do almost every kind of fiction well. And he is an author who really takes constructive criticism to heart and works on his faults. When he got slammed for his Magical Negro characters in The Stand and some of his early dicey female characters, he didn’t stomp around whining about “political correctness” and wokeness. He upped his game and improved not only his characters but his books in general. His family seems right cool too–and his dog Molly, The Thing Of Evil is a consistent hoot. Dunno about the Mambo No 5 thing, though–that was right creepy…😂👀 Doubt he’ll have a problem not being remembered–he’s made a massive cultural impact.
National treasure.
Like the other commenters, I too love Stephen King! I happen to be reading If It Bleeds right now.
I just read his latest book, ‘Holly’, after not reading Stephen King for years. He is really an excellent writer who draws characters with amazing detail. While ‘Holly’ is horror, it is also the story of a middle-aged woman who after a life of being domineered by her mother, is building an adult life as a private investigator. I really enjoyed ‘meeting’ Holly and hope he will write more books featuring her (*in fact, I think he did write one or two previous books, I just missed them).