Stephen King: The Art of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, readable, but not all that insightful.
Review: This is an interesting collection of essays on King's early novels--from "Carrie" (1974) through "The Talisman" (1984). It's got some interesting things to say about images and structures of the novels--I particularly enjoyed his comparison between Jack Sawyer in "The Talisman" and Huck Finn. The essays include comments from both from interviews with the author and quoted from other sources. But Winter is really more of a fan than a critic, and his praise tends to be a bit too gushing and somewhat less critical than I would hope. A readable book and interesting if you're into King and horror commentary. But I'm still waiting for a more insightful commentary on King's work.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, readable, but not all that insightful.
Review: This is an interesting collection of essays on King's early novels--from "Carrie" (1974) through "The Talisman" (1984). It's got some interesting things to say about images and structures of the novels--I particularly enjoyed his comparison between Jack Sawyer in "The Talisman" and Huck Finn. The essays include comments from both from interviews with the author and quoted from other sources. But Winter is really more of a fan than a critic, and his praise tends to be a bit too gushing and somewhat less critical than I would hope. A readable book and interesting if you're into King and horror commentary. But I'm still waiting for a more insightful commentary on King's work.