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Was Richard Bachman the Sentient Pile of Cocaine?

Lol all the books are like IN MAINE X HAPPENED - he didn’t exactly mask himself very well

This is actually kind of interesting because you don't get to the point where your grocery list would sell a million copies without being a good writer who people love. So the fact that he was at that level and still wanted to "prove" he was a good writer just goes to show how even the greats aren't immune to imposter syndrome.

“…in 1950s Maine”

It was because he was releasing more than 1 book per year and the publisher was afraid that readers would get tired of his stories.

I think King overall is hit or miss - and lots of people who love one thing will hate another, and vice versa.

I really liked his takes on Fantasy - The Dark Tower and it's tie ins to The Regulators/Desperation and others is sort of fascinating and really unlike any of his other work. I personally really enjoyed The Talisman as well, but it seems to be on the 'most hated' list. The book also opens on a young boy whose mother is dying of cancer, and I was a young boy whose mother was dying at the time I read it, so it probably has more personal impact for me.

Bachman was hit or miss with me. I loved the month walk, liked running man, appreciated roadwork but that one was definitely too long, and didn’t much care for rage. Honestly apart from conpletionism I don’t know how much is lost by it being out of print. Thinner is just total trash but kind of entertaining, blaze I read when I was pretty young and remember liking, and I’m one of the few people that likes The Regulators for how fucking bananas it can be.

>B. Write pulpier stuff as opposed to horror. It’s why most of the Bachman books (apart from thinner) are more sci-fi/ crime

They're also some of his best work. When he writes about things other than horror, he really shines. The Shawshank Redemption and The Running Man are two of my favorites.

Stand By Me was also really good, and many people still don't know that the movie was based on a Stephen King story even though his signature 'Group of adolescents going on an adventure and learning about dark things, one of whom has glasses and a smart mouth just like King' is all over it.

You're not wrong - he did say that somewhere, either in his memoir or in the foreword to The Bachman Books. I distinctly remember him saying his agent told him 'Steve, you could publish your grocery list and it would sell a million copies' and King wanted to prove him wrong.

All the copies of the books got remaindered and sent back, so his agent was right in the end. He formed a band at some point with some other authors called 'The Rock Bottom Remainders' and I think maybe the bit about the Bachman bet was in that.

I don't remember where I read it, but I definitely did.

That's a beautiful quote.

King answered the question in the collection of his Bachman books.

> For real?

No. I can only trace this quote back to this article written by the guy who discovered that King was Bachman. The original quote itself isn't from a major newspaper review. It's a quote from King himself, quoting what he claims he'd heard a reader for the Literary Guild, a sort of mailed book-of-the-month club, had said.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld is full of them. If you visit r/Discworld you will find discussions.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, older narrator Jean Louise reports a conversation her younger self, Scout, had with Miss Maudie Atkinson about the notorious neighborhood recluse Boo Radley. Scout tells Miss Maudie the rumors about Boo, and Miss Maudie dismisses them with disdain, blaming them in part on local gossip Stephanie Crawford.

"Stephanie once told me that she woke up in the middle of the night and Boo was standing by her bed, looking down at her," Miss Maudie says. "I asked her, 'What did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him?' That shut her up."

Jean Louise comments, "I was sure it did. Miss Maudie's voice was enough to shut anyone up."

Took me years to get that joke.

I was a child, and we certainly were not able to go out to eat once a week. Later on in the late 80's, yes that became more normal, but I remember the 70's as a time of going out to eat being a rare treat, and a lot of dinners of steak-ums, fish sticks, etc. This was also a time when a lot of food became much more expensive (due in part to the gas shortage).

It really doesn't matter that your prose isn't the best of the best if your stories are great. A lot better than the reverse, that's for sure.

For real? That's fantastic and immediately shows how biased reviews can be.

Yes, I feel the same. I may not be a discerning enough reader perhaps

I may try. Many of my friends have suggested too but not in this context

It might just not be for you and if that’s what you decide it’s not a big deal but sometimes things grow on you as time passes. One thing to think about when reading them is why the author chose magical realism to convey their story. Would changing the story telling mode change your perception of the novel, would it be more palatable to you? Sometimes I find magical realism elevates the text, other times I find it becomes impenetrable. Usually I lean on the side of, I need to grow as a reader to appreciate them. After a few years I like to return to difficult books and see if anything has changed for me.

Have you tried reading Murakami? It‘s not Magical Realism per se (though I know there‘s a lot of people who would argue they are) but it‘s a very good entry point and his books are great fun when you just let yourself enjoy the ride.

Be prepared to encounter some weird shit tho. Every book of his has at least one weird sex scene.

Hi there. Per rule 3.3, please post book recommendation requests in /r/SuggestMeABook or in our Weekly Recommendation Thread. Thank you!

That's Richard Bagman to you!

You don't like it. You gave it a go and turns out it doesn't appeal to you. It's fine!

I love magical realism, but you have to be willing to let go of a lot of....expectations? Previously ingrained beliefs on how books are supposed to work? I dunno.

But not every genre works for everyone.