Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

by Bev Vincent

Overview

Take an intimate tour through the life and works of Stephen King, made vivid with rare photos and ephemera from King’s personal collection.

Even if you are a die-hard fan, you will find something new in this beautifully packaged Stephen King reference that you will return to again and again. Timed to celebrate Stephen King’s 75th birthday on September 21, 2022, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences reveals the inspiration behind the prolific author’s brilliant works of horror through a combination of photos and documents from King’s archives and an engaging account of the stories behind how his novels, novellas, short stories, and adaptations came to be.

It might sound like a tall tale that Stephen King once met a bartender named Grady in an empty hotel in Colorado, or that the celebrated author helped his young daughter bury her cat in a nearby “pets sematary” after it was killed on a busy roadway. In this book, discover how King drew on these and more real personal experiences and mundane life events, then employed his extraordinary imagination to twist them into something horrific.
 
From impoverished university student to struggling schoolteacher to one of the best-selling—and most recognizable—authors of all time, this engrossing book reveals the evolution and influences of Stephen King’s body of work over his nearly 50-year career, and how the themes of his writing reflect the changing times and events within his life.
 
An expansion of Stephen King expert Bev Vincent’s The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, this fully revised, redesigned, and updated book includes:
 

• A review of King’s complete body of work, including Fairy Tale, published in September 2022.
• A wealth of rare memorabilia from King’s own collection, including personal and professional correspondences, handwritten manuscript pages, book covers, movie stills, and a never-before-seen excerpts from one of his poems.
• Interludes on specific topics such as real-life settings that inspired King’s writing, the editor who discovered him, his life as a Boston Red Sox fan, and the many awards and honors he has received.
• Insightful quotes from King from interviews over the decades.

 
Celebrate the beloved King of Horror with this informational and entertaining look inside King’s most iconic titles and the culture they have created.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760376812
Publisher:	Epic Ink
Publication date:	09/13/2022
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	111,634
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Bev Vincent is the author of several non-fiction books, including The Road to the Dark Tower and Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. In 2018, he co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright with King and has published over 130 stories, with appearances in Ellery Queen’s, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Black Cat Mystery magazines. His work has been published in over twenty languages and nominated for the Stoker (twice), Edgar, Locus, Ignotus, Rondo Hatton Classic Horror and ITW Thriller Awards. To learn more, visit bevvincent.com

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 THE FUTURE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (1950–1969)
INTERLUDE: THE POETRY OF STEPHEN KING
CHAPTER 2 THE DOUBLEDAY YEARS (1970s)
INTERLUDE: STEPHEN KING AS RICHARD BACHMAN
INTERLUDE: WELCOME TO CASTLE ROCK
CHAPTER 3 MIDAS TOUCH (1980s)
INTERLUDE: THE DARK TOWER
INTERLUDE: UNSEEN KING
INTERLUDE: WELCOME TO DERRY
CHAPTER 4 EXPERIMENTATION AND CHANGE (1990s)
INTERLUDE: THE ACCIDENT
CONTENTS CHAPTER 5 AFTER THE ACCIDENT (2000s)
INTERLUDE: THE STEPHEN KING UNIVERSE
CHAPTER 5 KING OF CRIME (2010 AND BEYOND)
CONCLUSION THE TEST OF TIME
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX I BOOKS
APPENDIX II SHORT STORIES AND NOVELLAS
APPENDIX III ADAPTATIONS
ENDNOTES
IMAGE CREDITS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 

Editorial Reviews

"Holy smokes, what an awesome book…It’s a must read for any fan."—Being Fictional

"...noted King chronicler Bev Vincent’s spent years delving into the undoubtedly haunted halls of King’s archives, unearthing letters, notes, outlines and photos that shed light on the novelist’s inspirations and frustrations. The resulting encyclopedic account of the novelist’s life and career, with pitstops in such terrifying towns as Castle Rock and Derry, is a (trick or) treat for all of us Constant Readers."—Marcus Errico, Yahoo!

"Frankly, it’s a beautiful book, designed with character and creepiness that enhance the experience without becoming a gimmick or nuisance to reading."—Horror Obsessive

"Vincent consistently displays that same knack for expertly tucked-away nuggets amidst a more conventional narrative paved on book publications and career milestones. Vincent writes about King
in a direct and simple style that allows King, often quoted verbatim, to rise to the fore. The volume,
‘‘published on the occasion of Stephen King’s seventy-fifth birthday,’’ transcends the simple marketing tool or hagiographic indulgence it might have been by combining studious knowledge with accessibility and insight."—Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Locus Mag

"Less than a dozen pages in and I knew this was everything I had hoped for. Bev Vincent has found a way to celebrate King’s complete body of work in a way that feels both academic and casual."—Derry Public Radio - Constant Readers

"What do you get for the Stephen King fan who already has every book he's ever written? This impressively illustrated volume is the answer."—Vanity Fair

"This is a great reference book that the casual reader of King’s books will learn a lot from and in which, even we King nerds that read everything he has written still find new things."

 —Lilja's Library

"The almost conversational tone of the book is engaging and accessible, with extensive footnotes, credits, and appendices to extend readers’ experience with the topic."—Library Journal

"Bev Vincent did an amazing job putting this book together. It has everything you need to know about Stephen King. If you are about to delve into Stephen King, I recommend you start with Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work Life, and Influences by Bev Vincent."—Sandbox World

"...takes fans on an in-depth look at exactly what it is that makes the King of Horror tick. Vincent knows his material and delivers the sort of depth and detail that many ‘behind the scenes’ books promise, but rarely deliver."—FilmJuice

"When it comes to expounding on King’s work, Vincent knows his stuff, through and through. Whether writing about King’s radio station or time with the Rock-Bottom Remainders, Vincent is curious in his approach and thorough in his results."—Michael Berry, Portland Press Herald

"It’s a blast to open the book at random and dive in, and Vincent ensures every King text receives its just due."—TheFilmStage.com

From the Publisher

09/16/2022

This volume's release coincides with King's 75th birthday and is an excellent addition to libraries looking to expand their collection of biographies. Stephen King—expert Vincent (The Dark Tower Companion) is well-placed to closely examine the work and life of the novelist, having also co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright with King. Vincent here explores what influenced King as well as King's own impact on both the horror genre and on pop culture. The book is organized chronologically, and each chapter includes one or more "interludes" that explore aspects of King's life or work that are intriguing, but tangential to the focus of the main narrative of the book. One of the most engaging aspects of this book is its design. Drawing inspiration from pop-culture depictions of police casefiles, horror movies, and scrapbooks, the layout will draw readers in with archival photographs, images of the covers of King's book, and reproductions of materials from King's archives. The almost conversational tone of the book is engaging and accessible, with extensive footnotes, credits, and appendices to extend readers' experience with the topic. VERDICT Best suited to libraries with strong horror collections.—Sarah Mazur

Library Journal