Who Ate Half My Popcorn When I'm All Alone In The Theater?

So, yes, I raced down to Wenatchee late after work to buy the new Stephen King book...on the day it was released. And, yes, it's only a collection of five stories already published, that I already own...in multiple copies. But, damnit, this book is new, it has a bitchin cover, and King did write intros for each of the stories, making comments about the film adaptaions.

Yeah, well...I know, I know, but it really is a bitchin cover.


One of the things I love about King is his own humility, and his ability to cut through the crap and tell it like it is. On the movie adaptation of Children of the Corn, he says:

"On another note: Children of the Corn has generated more awful sequels than any other story in my oeuvre. There's Children of the Corn II, III and IV, at least. Possibly more (I eventually lost count). If my internet connection weren't down as I write this, I'd check and see if there wasn't even a Children of the Corn in Space. I almost think there was. The only one I was really rooting for was Children of the Corn Meet Leprechaun. I wanted to hear that little leprechaun guy shouting, "Give me back me corn!" in his cute Irish accent."

Honestly, if you haven't really read King, this collection, while not the best place to start, is still a pretty good beginning point. All five of the stories are good (including Children of the Corn, in spite of the terrible movies the story is excellent) and two of the pieces, Low Men in Yellow Coats and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption are amongst King's finest writing. Low Men in Yellow Coats happens to be one of my top dozen or so favorite works...by any writer.

King also gives a list of his favorite adaptations of his works, which are, alphabetically, as follows:

Apt Pupil
Cujo
Dolores Claiborne
1408
The Green Mile
Misery
The Mist
The Shawshank Redemption
Stand By Me
Storm of the Century

Stay tuned, friends and neighbors...my own Top Ten Favorite King Adaptations will be coming soon!