Reading: An Evening With Stephen King

Out of the blue one day, Cristina asked if I enjoy reading Stephen King‘s works. I responded in the affirmative. I think I referred to King as the greatest living American author. Hyperbole aside, I do think he is a great writer (Cormac McCarthy would get my vote for greatest living American author). I asked her why she was inquiring. She responded that he would be giving a talk and a reading and the price of admission was his new book. The conversation concluded with her buying the tickets from Octavia Books online.

Having worked at a major corporate bookstore (the dead one) in the past, I know firsthand how much a talk like this can do for a bookstore. That it was happening to one of the finest independent bookstores in the south was even better. (Soap Box Moment: Barnes and Noble is a great big store especially if you are looking for magazines. However, nothing beats a small bookstore for charm and customer service. If you have the choice, choose the small independent store).

The event was held at the Arts Auditorium at Sacred Heart Academy. The event was a sellout. Considering you had to buy a book to hear him talk, Octavia Books had a very good day. Another draw was that there would be 250 pre-signed books out of the books that would be given out. We had a 50/50 chance.

King was charming and joked about how if he lived here he would be very fat. He was very excited that many people would show up to hear somebody talk about a book. Well, he isn’t just somebody but that was part of his charm…he was humbled that many people like to read the words he strings together.

He read from his book, 11/22/63, which just made me more excited to read it. As soon as I finish Game of Thrones and my wife finishes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, we are going to have our own little book club (anyone else want to join?). After, we will donate the extra copy to our school library.

While there was no meet and greet with Mr. King, he did do a short Q&A where he delved into his process and discussed works he his planning on such as a sequel to The Shining. The only downside of the evening: finding time to read more.

And one more thing…

Related articles

• Friday Book Club: 11.22.63, Stephen King (firstchoice.co.uk)
• 11.22.63 by Stephen King: review (telegraph.co.uk)
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King (nochargebookbunch.com)