The Book List

[NathanStrickland]

Yes yes yes, we all know how inspiring On Writing has been. It's a fantastic book (I had written an adverb in there but slashed its throat with the delete key, that's for you Steve-O), but the pathways of praise seem pretty well-trodden at this point.

My beef is with the book list. Not that the books in there are bad, heavens no! They're effin' great. Couldn't get enough of them. And that's the point.

What kind of jerk puts an unpublished novel in a recommended reading list? I mean come on, that's just cruel. It would be one thing if Herman Schmedlap thought his wife wrote a great story that just didn't find the right publisher, but we're talking about Stephen King here. The only guys who have sold more books have names like "Shakespeare" or "Jesus". I find it a little hard to swallow that The Sky in the Water is going to languish there, waiting to be discovered years later like an Emily Dickinson poem.

Let the story be free. Not literally free, I'm still willing to pay $24 for it (ok ok, $8 when it comes out on paperback; I prefer portability), but free for the world to enjoy. Stories were meant to be told.

[bopropadop]

Well, "jerk" might be a little strong, but I hear ya...