I haven't read every word Stephen King has ever written. No, I estimate I've read only 98 percent of his prose.
Today I received his latest novel in the mail. (Yes, I still proudly buy books.) "Billy Summers" is his 63rd novel and the 73-year-old remains at the top of his game, if many of his works in the last decade are any indication.
My favorite King book is "The Stand," which was published in 1978. In 1990, the uncut version of the classic was published and it's an epic in every sense of the word, including length. I recently read all 1,152 pages for the second time and was disappointed to come to the end of the story.
He's sold more than 350 million copies worldwide and though he's often called a horror master, I think the tag is too limiting. King is a master storyteller, through and through. Many of his books have nothing to do with horror, though he admittedly enjoying keeping his readers up at night.
So many great books. "Carrie" in 1974. "Pet Sematary" in 1983. "It" in 1986. "Needful Things" in 1991. "The Green Mile" in 1996. "Under the Dome" in 2009. "The Dark Tower" series. In the past 10 years he has remained prolific, even though he just could sit in his Maine home and watch his money pile up.
Two books in the past decade in particular are terrific, "11/22/63" in 2011 and "The Institute" in 2019.
King isn't infallible. His reputation for struggling to end books on a high note is real. But King, a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, still has plenty left on his fastball. When King releases a book, millions of fans still circle their calendars.
Including me. He remains a national treasure.
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