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A review by oddfigg
Stephen King's Danse Macabre by Stephen King
2.0
While there's nothing wrong with King's analysis and discussion of horror through tropes, books, movies, pop culture, and his own work, this book falls short, especially in retrospect, for a few huge reasons.
This is King still at the beginning of his long writing career. Sure, he'd put out some of his juggernauts that have stood the test of time by the time this appeared, including [b:The Shining|6324651|The Shining (The Shining #1)|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1466353585l/6324651._SY75_.jpg|849585] and [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1213131305l/149267._SX50_.jpg|1742269], but this is still King as a baby writer. I think if he were inclined to revisit this topic now (or even in 2000 instead of 1981) he would have more developed ideas to share.
Of course, the book is also quite dated just by nature of the contents. Pop culture moves pretty fast, so any book examining what is available at any current moment will become obsolete in the blink of an eye. Despite that fact, a lot of what King writes still stirred that creative cauldron in my brain and gave me a lot to think about. When he's passionate about a topic, he really shines, and the writing is often fun and tongue-in-cheek. I can imagine that King was that super cool professor back in his teaching days.
The most glaring issue with this book is the complete and utter lack of diversity with the authors and other creators that King focuses on. There are only two women that he writes about with any sort of in-depth analysis and there aren't any people of color. I can't say I'm surprised by this, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.
I am a Constant Reader, but that doesn't mean I need to be a King apologist. While he has written amazing women characters like Lisey Landon and Rosie Daniels and even transgressive ones like Annie Wilkes, his white, heteronormative, male perspective is always front and center. When he's wearing his influences on his sleeve throughout this book, that becomes even more apparent. It's not a bad book, it's just one to take with a grain of salt. Or perhaps a whole jar of it.
This is King still at the beginning of his long writing career. Sure, he'd put out some of his juggernauts that have stood the test of time by the time this appeared, including [b:The Shining|6324651|The Shining (The Shining #1)|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1466353585l/6324651._SY75_.jpg|849585] and [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1213131305l/149267._SX50_.jpg|1742269], but this is still King as a baby writer. I think if he were inclined to revisit this topic now (or even in 2000 instead of 1981) he would have more developed ideas to share.
Of course, the book is also quite dated just by nature of the contents. Pop culture moves pretty fast, so any book examining what is available at any current moment will become obsolete in the blink of an eye. Despite that fact, a lot of what King writes still stirred that creative cauldron in my brain and gave me a lot to think about. When he's passionate about a topic, he really shines, and the writing is often fun and tongue-in-cheek. I can imagine that King was that super cool professor back in his teaching days.
The most glaring issue with this book is the complete and utter lack of diversity with the authors and other creators that King focuses on. There are only two women that he writes about with any sort of in-depth analysis and there aren't any people of color. I can't say I'm surprised by this, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing.
I am a Constant Reader, but that doesn't mean I need to be a King apologist. While he has written amazing women characters like Lisey Landon and Rosie Daniels and even transgressive ones like Annie Wilkes, his white, heteronormative, male perspective is always front and center. When he's wearing his influences on his sleeve throughout this book, that becomes even more apparent. It's not a bad book, it's just one to take with a grain of salt. Or perhaps a whole jar of it.