Methods and Meaning in the Novels of Stephen King: A Constant Reader's Guide

by James Arthur Anderson

Overview

This book explores the techniques, themes, and subtexts in the fictional works of one of America's best-known and most-loved storytellers, Stephen King. Each of King's novels are analyzed in chronological order of their publication from Carrie to Holly. Every novel's analysis includes a background and summary, narrative devices, archetypes that influenced the novel, themes and subtexts, human universals, interesting facts, and notable quotes. As an invaluable resource for any Stephen King "Constant Reader" and students of literature in general, this work appreciates the beauty of King's fiction without needing to master the jargon of contemporary literary criticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476695051
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	08/21/2024
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James Arthur Anderson is a professor emeritus at Johnson & Wales University, where he taught writing and literature for more than 35 years. He has published book-length critical studies on H.P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury, and received The Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for Nonfiction from the Horror Writers Association in 2016. He lives in Garfield, Georgia and is a part-time instructor at East Georgia State College.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Is Stephen King So Good and So Popular?
1. Carrie: Prom Night
2. ’Salem’s Lot: New World Vampires
3. Rage: Getting It on in the Schools
4. The Shining: Iconic Horror
5. The Stand: The Modern Plague
6. The Long Walk: Dystopian Nightmare
7. The Dead Zone: Everyman Is a Hero
8. Firestarter: Don’t Play with Fire
9. Roadwork: Mental Meltdown
10. Cujo: He Tried to Be a Good Dog
11. The Running Man: Reality TV on Steroids
12. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption: Hope Springs Eternal
13. The Body: The Birth of a Writer
14. Christine: America Loves Its Wheels
15. Pet Sematary: Sometimes Dead Is Better
16. Eyes of the Dragon: ­­Genre-Bending Fantasy
17. Thinner: The Book That Outed Bachman
18. It: We All Float Down Here
19. Misery: The Price of Fame
20. The Tommyknockers: Mechanized Aliens
21. The Dark Half: Attack of the Pseudonym
22. Needful Things: The Downside of a Consumer Society
23. Gerald’s Game: Escape Room
24. Dolores Claiborne: Justice Served
25. Rose Madder: The Fury of a Woman Scorned
26. Insomnia: Miles to Go Before I Sleep
27. The Green Mile: Rebirth of the Serial Novel
28. Desperation: Even God Has a Price
29. The Regulators: Horror in the Burbs
30. Bag of Bones: Digging Up the Past
31. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: Gretel Goes It Alone
32. Dreamcatcher: A Winter’s Tale
33. From a Buick 8: The ­­One-Way Portal
34. The Colorado Kid: The Unsolved Mystery
35. Cell: The ­­Techno-Zombie Attack
36. Lisey’s Story: The Literary Best Seller
37. Blaze: Bachman Returns
38. Duma Key: Art Therapy
39. Under the Dome: Ants Under a Magnifying Glass
40. 11/22/63: Changing the Past
41. Joyland: Carny from Carny
42. Doctor Sleep: Danny Torrance Grows Up
43. Mr. Mercedes: Enter, Holly Gibney
44. Revival: Reanimation and Revelation
45. Finders Keepers: The Problem with Buried Treasure
46. End of Watch: To Be or Not to Be
47. The Outsider: The Doppelgänger Effect
48. Elevation: King’s ­­Feel-Good Book
49. The Institute: Suffer the Children
50. Later: I See Dead People
51. Billy Summers. The Moral Assassin
52. Fairy Tale: Once Upon a Time
53. Holly: A Journal of the ­­Covid-19 Years
Conclusion: The English Professor and Constant Reader
Appendix 1: Theoretical Works Consulted
Appendix 2: Bibliography of Works about Stephen King
Appendix 3: A Chronology of Stephen King’s Books
Index