Stephen King’s latest book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, has just been released.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a collection of short stories, some brand new and some previously published in magazines and all with an introduction by King explaining when, why and how he crafted each story. It offers a fascinating insight into the mind of a master storyteller.
Watch the book trailer:
Click here to view the embedded video.
- Not loading? Watch on YouTube
The unabridged audiobook edition of the The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is read by Stephen King himself, as well as a talented collection of voice artists.
King has shared audio excerpts from his book on his website. Listen to King reading his introduction to “Premium Harmony”, followed by a reading of the story by Will Patton:
Scribner Magazine has shared the text version of King’s introduction to the story:
My mother had a saying for every occasion. (“And Steve remembers them all,” I can hear my wife, Tabitha, say, with an accompanying roll of her eyes.)
One of her favorites was “Milk always takes the flavor of what it sits next to in the icebox.” I don’t know if that’s true about milk, but it’s certainly true when it comes to the stylistic development of young writers. When I was a young man, I wrote like H. P. Lovecraft when I was reading Lovecraft, and like Ross Macdonald when I was reading the adventures of PI Lew Archer.
Stylistic copying eventually wanes. Little by little, writers develop their own styles, each as unique as a ngerprint. Traces of the writers one reads in one’s formative years remain, but the rhythm of each writer’s thoughts—an expression of his or her very brainwaves, I think—eventually becomes dominant.
The New Yorker featured “Premium Harmony” in 2011. Read the story:
“And pull in at the Quik-Pik,” she says. “I want to get a kickball for Tallie’s birthday.” Tallie is her brother’s little girl. Ray supposes that makes her his niece, although he’s not sure that’s right, since all the blood is on Mary’s side.
“They have balls at Wal-Mart,” Ray says. “And everything’s cheaper at Wally World.”
“The ones at Quik-Pik are purple. Purple is her favorite color. I can’t be sure there’ll be purple at Wal-Mart.”
“If there aren’t, we’ll stop at the Quik-Pik on the way back.” He feels a great weight pressing down on his head. She’ll get her way. She always does on things like this. He sometimes thinks marriage is like a football game and he’s quarterbacking the underdog team. He has to pick his spots. Make short passes.
- 5 Sunday Reads: Including a Morrissey’s Bad Sex Award-winning Writing and a Review of Ian Fleming’s Collected Letters
- More Sunday Reads
Book details
- The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King
EAN: 9781473698895
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Image of Stephen King courtesy of whatculture.com