Stephen King has written about 55 novels and there have
probably been about that many books written about him and his uncanny ability
to give readers the cold sweats. A new one called Perspectives on Stephen King is probably one of the more novel
books about King. Andrew J. Rausch conducted interviews with folks who’ve
adapted King’s work for the screen, famous fans, fellow horror writers,
publishers who’ve worked with him, etc. I suppose the goal was to get a
different angle on the writer and maybe uncover some unknown details using an
atypical format.
The problem with this format is that interviews usually
reveal much more about the interviewee than whatever the topic of the interview
is, and Rausch’s questions are not always probing enough to uncover much about
King. He regularly asks, “What is Stephen King like?” (most common answer: “a
regular guy”), what is King’s greatest strength (“creating relatable
characters”), or what was it like working with him (“great”), but he rarely
digs much deeper than that, probably because a lot of the interviewees do not
seem to know much more about King than what they’ve read in his books. Therefore,
some of the interviews yield nothing more revelatory than how 1408 got made or what King’s email
writing style is like. Interviews with people like writers C. Courtney Joyner
and Joe R. Lansdale, both fans with no direct connection to King, reveal even
less (though I’ll admit that as a fan of Lansdale’s work, I still enjoyed his
interview).
Interview responses tend to meander too much or skate
forward too quickly to serve as deep analysis of the work, and there is an
overall tendency to avoid criticizing that work. King-scholar Patrick McAleer
comes closest to digging into King’s style and themes, but he too stops short
of getting critical enough to provide a sufficiently balanced perspective of the
author.
The most interesting interviewees are the ones who worked most
intimately with King, such as his co-writer Richard Chizmar (Gwendy’s Button Box) and former
researcher Robin Furth. They give insight into King’s generous work methods and
his personal generosity, and it’s neat to get a personal and private
perspective on his personality and methods.
