Stephen King: The Non-Fiction

Edited by Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks.

Stephen King: The Non-Fiction is the first significant review of King's Non-Fiction. Most fans and readers know King has written three non-fiction books and may have noticed his introductions and Author's Notes to his own works, but few know of his hundreds of columns, articles, book reviews and criticism.

In fact the Authors review over 560 published works of non-fiction (more than a dozen are revealed here for the first time) and a further nine unpublished non-fiction pieces. Full details of these unpublished pieces are revealed for the first time.

Stephen King: The Non-Fiction fills all the gaps, providing significant detail on each of the most significant of these Non-Fiction Works; and a review of every other piece!

Authors Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks spent five years compiling this outstanding reference work, with the assistance of many of the leading King researchers, collectors and "super-collectors"; and access to Restricted Non-Fiction Works in King's papers at the University of Maine, Orono.

Covering all King's published and known unpublished works from 1959 to mid-2006, Stephen King: The Non-Fiction reveals for the first time dozens of pieces of non-fiction and their appearances that were previously unknown to King researchers.

If you've ever wanted to know more about King's amazing and often controversial non-fiction, this is the reference work you must have. This is the ultimate volume to accompany Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished – and this is the perfect companion in your collection for The Stephen King Universe and The Road to the Dark Tower.

Among new pieces reviewed in the book are:

• Two previously unknown King pieces from his high school days – sports reporting in the Lisbon Enterprise (these are not the articles King describes in On Writing); and a King non-fiction piece from his high school newspaper The Drum; along with the fascinating story of their rediscovery by the authors
• A 1967 column supporting the US troops in Vietnam
• Previously unknown pieces from The Maine Campus, such as a review of the Spring 1969 issue of Ubris (in which King published the first version of Night Surf, the precursor to The Stand); an amazing movie review; and letters to the editor (many highly amusing)
• Nine unpublished pieces of non-fiction reviewed in detail, including pieces held in the Restricted Boxes of King's papers at the University of Maine – for the first time anywhere the authors describe these works in detail
• A large number of previously unknown letters to the editor
• Introductions to the work of other authors; and book reviews published in unusual venues
• Comprehensive reviews of King's non-fiction in the Bangor Daily News and other Maine newspapers, some of it controversial
• King's early baseball writing, most published in Maine newspapers
• Working from the original sources Wood and Brooks also identified and corrected numerous errors in the previous reporting of material – incorrect titles, dates, pagination and even publication information

Stephen King: The Non-Fiction is going to be a must-have for every Stephen King collector, and we expect it to sell very quickly!

Contents:

Argument: A Guide to King's Non-Fiction. Introducing the Reader to the book and King's rich tapestry, including his strong sense of opinion, sense of humour, style and risks he often takes in the Non-Fiction mode.

King's Major Non-Fiction

• Early Columns – Garbage Truck
• Danse Macabre, On Writing
• Baseball – Faithful; Heads Down and the Red Sox Obsession
• Opinion – Horror
• Opinion – The Craft of Writing
• Author's Notes and Introductions to His Own Work
• Later Columns – The Pop of King King's Minor Non-Fiction
• Introducing the Works of Others
• Book Reviews
• Letters to the Editor, Guest Columns
• Opinion – Radio, Music, Film and Television
• Opinion – Venturing into Politics
• Opinion – Let's Argue
• Miscellany

King's Unpublished Non-Fiction

Each of the Chapters is in narrative form and covers the following information:

• The history of and interesting information about each piece
• Summary, including significant quotes
• Critique
• Relevance to other King Works (particularly to his Fiction)
• Advice to Readers wishing to accessing the piece

Bibliography: A full list of all King's Non-Fiction, with detailed citations