There are a lot of talented and revered writers in the world, but not every one of them managed to become a legend in life. Stephen King's biography is no less fascinating than his works. This man achieved world fame and recognition at a young age.
Amazingly, it is known even to those people who are far from horror and from reading in principle. Stephen King's books are a cocktail of genres, an extraordinary fantasy, wild imagination; films shot from his stories chained a huge part of the population to the blue screen, made them cry, laugh, tremble with horror and empathize with the main characters. But was the path to glory easy? This will tell the biography of Stephen King.
Childhood
The king of horrors was born on September 21, 1947. He was born into the family of Donald King and Nelly Ruth Pillsberry, and this can be called a miracle, because the couple were convinced that Ruth could not have children. Relations between the couple did not work out, and the second child did not contribute to strengthening the union (the first boy - David King - was adopted in 1945).
Stephen King's biography has sad sides. When he was only two years old, his father left the house for cigarettes and did not return. Ruth raised two sons alone. But she did not panic and despair, the active woman did not lose optimism and enthusiastically clutched at one or the other. In fact, she was a bright representative of feminism, but such a difficult life made her and the need to rely only on herself.
But numerous relatives, learning about Ruth's troubles, tried in every possible way to provide her with support, in particular financial. This is due to the constant moving of Stephen from one city to another. They stayed with the parents of Donald, with the sisters Ruth.
Carier start
Stephen King's biography tells of the beginning of his career. The gift of writing manifested itself very early - at seven years old. It was at this age that the pen was tested. In 1959, the active Kingi brothers decided to publish their own newspaper. It bore the uncomplicated name - “Dave's Leaflet” - and was successfully distributed among relatives, acquaintances and neighbors. By the way, not for free.
Constant moving negatively affected the health of the boy, he suffered acute pharyngitis and measles. A distraction from pain was helped by a passion for writing, which later turned into a life-long affair. The first serious work of the author was published in 1965. The story bore an interesting title - "I was a teenager robbing graves." A year after this, the American writer graduated from high school and went to university.
In 1966, the first novel, The Long Way, was written, but King was refused by the publisher. The young man did not take criticism well and reacted painfully to the fact that the book did not make the proper impression. Nevertheless, the author's works were presented to the general public. In 1979, The Long Way saw the light, but was published under the pseudonym Richard Bachmann.
Stephen King: Bibliography
Not many writers can boast of such performance. Inspiration never leaves this author, as evidenced by the huge number of books that Stephen King writes year after year. His bibliography has over 50 novels, as well as many stories and short stories.
The most significant and any novels:
- "Carrie".
- "Lot".
- "Radiance".
- "Confrontation."
- "Dead zone".
- "Flaming eyes."
- "Pet cemetery".
- "It".
- Misery.
- "Tomminokera".
- The Dark Half.
- "The right things".
- Dolores Clayborn.
- "Insomnia".
- "Marenova Rose".
- "Hopelessness."
- A bag of bones.
- "Hearts in Atlantis."
- "Dream Catcher".
- "Mobile phone".
Two works of the author stand apart: “Escape from the Shawshank” and “The Green Mile”. Both works were filmed and took leading positions according to IMDb (the largest cinema database in the world).
"Monsters are real, ghosts too"
“Monsters are real, ghosts too. They live inside us and sometimes gain the upper hand, ”wrote Stephen King. Fans know the quotes from his best works by heart. The expressions that the author composes are distinguished by their deepest meaning and are capable of telling a lot about his personality, character traits, attitude to life.
"What trap compares with a trap of love?"; “Only the dead speak true prophecies” - all this is Stephen King (quotes cited by us are from the immortal Dark Tower cycle).
A family
The writer was lucky: he has a large and strong family. He met his wife Tabitha Spruce at the university. A year after they met, they got married, and the union was indestructible. The wife gave him three children and became the main critic.
There is one interesting story about how the master of the pen threw the novel "Carrie" into the bin, deciding that the work failed. Tabitha saved the manuscript, read it, and told King that he should finish the novel. Fortunately, he followed wise advice. When the couple was on the verge of poverty and collapse, did not see any prospect in the foreseeable future, the phone rang, which once and for all changed their life. The novel was accepted for publication and offered a fee of $ 200,000. The book made him famous, it was the beginning of the great journey of the king of horrors. He said goodbye to the profession of a teacher and devoted himself to his beloved business.
Personal life was perfect, Stephen King’s novels are sold in millions of copies - this is a well-deserved success.
Adaptations
Many wonderful films were made based on the works of this writer. "Stephen King's Nightmares and Fantasies" is a short film. The mini-series includes nine stories in the first season. The plot is taken from three collections: “Everything is Ultimate”, “Night Shift”, “Nightmares and Fantastic Visions”. The dynamic development of events and the unpredictable ending found a grateful audience. But opinions about the stories are ambiguous, viewers claim that in some places the creators of the film managed to convey the chilling atmosphere of horror and fear, and some sin with flaws.
Interesting Facts
The talented King writer Stephen Edwin is open to the public, eagerly gives interviews and makes contact with people. Here are some interesting points from his life:
- In 1999, during a walk, the writer was hit by a van. His nightmares and fears became reality. Multiple injuries (broken ribs, damaged lung, crack on the spine) could lead to irreversible, fatal consequences. There were fractures on the leg, at first they even wanted to amputate her. He hardly believed in a happy outcome, but time passed, and the body was restored, of course, very slowly. During this period, the writer announced that he was "resigning" and yet after a long period of time he returned to work.
- King played in a kind of rock band, it was unusual in that it consisted of only writers. She was successful in narrow circles and even brought income.
- A novel called "Rage" became the cause of massive "insanity." The teenagers took up arms and started shooting at school. After that, the writer decided that the book should be withdrawn from sale.
- The writer has set for himself a daily minimum of words (2 thousand) and does not go to bed without fulfilling the norm.
- The novel "Running Man" was written in record time - 10 days.
- King's daughter - Naomi - belongs to sexual minorities. In 2000, she married a school teacher.
- King was treated for drug and alcohol addiction.
- The writer never uses a mobile phone. There is an assumption that the explanation for this fact lies in the book of the same name (“Mobile”).
- He has been awarded countless awards and a medal "For Outstanding Contribution to American Literature."
Conclusion
Stephen King's stories are written in various genres: horror, science fiction, thriller, drama, detective, fantasy. Perhaps that is why he has so many fans around the world. Where did so many ideas and pans come from? Is there any mysticism in this? Some people tend to think that otherworldly forces help the writer, that magic is involved here. This is most likely a fallacy. Once every hundred years gifted people are born with inexhaustible imagination and energy.