Stephen King’s trunk novel sees the light of day after 34 years
Any Stephen King fans out there who yearn to read something new of his from the time before he was a household name? Well, put down your well-worn copies of Carrie and The Stand and reserve King’s new book Blaze, written in 1973 and just published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym.
Blaze is a part of King’s “trunk novels” (novels written early in a writer’s career that are deemed unpublishable), the others being Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981) and The Running Man (1982).
Bachman’s Thinner was published in 1984 and The Regulators in 1996, on the same day that King’s Desperation arrived in bookstores. But as early as 1985 the cat was out of the bag when a clerk at a bookstore noted the similarities in writing styles and pulled a Hardy Boys sleuthing at the Library of Congress. Bachman died in 1985 from “cancer of the pseudonym.”
And for all you cynics out there who think that King would publish his grocery list if he could make a profit, please note that all proceeds of Blaze will go to the Haven Foundation, a charity that supports free-lance artists who have suffered disabling injuries or illnesses.
Blaze is a part of King’s “trunk novels” (novels written early in a writer’s career that are deemed unpublishable), the others being Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981) and The Running Man (1982).
Bachman’s Thinner was published in 1984 and The Regulators in 1996, on the same day that King’s Desperation arrived in bookstores. But as early as 1985 the cat was out of the bag when a clerk at a bookstore noted the similarities in writing styles and pulled a Hardy Boys sleuthing at the Library of Congress. Bachman died in 1985 from “cancer of the pseudonym.”
And for all you cynics out there who think that King would publish his grocery list if he could make a profit, please note that all proceeds of Blaze will go to the Haven Foundation, a charity that supports free-lance artists who have suffered disabling injuries or illnesses.
For the record, my own personal favorite Bachman book is The Regulators, a spooky tale of an evil creature who manifests itself through a TV-loving 6-year-old autistic boy named Seth, turning a sunny suburban street into a bloodbath. Turn off those TVs, kiddos!
Comments