Readers of all stripes will find something to appreciate in this collection which illuminates how King’s horror literature as a media form has shifted in relation to cultural understandings over time. Many chapters touch upon how surrounding texts such as film/TV adaptations have played into these mediations throughout King’s storied career. For the first-time reader of King this volume offers a doorway into his works: an array of exciting critical frameworks with which to make sense of King’s fictional universe. For literary critics this volume argues that King’s corpus remains a site for robust intellectual inquiry. And for all of us the book provides an occasion-one that is long overdue-to rethink King’s relationship to critical theory as well as his legacy as a major American author. While it may prove impossible to reconcile King and the academy we might nonetheless explore the evolution of their inescapable bond in hopes of negotiating a greater understanding between them. |Theorizing Stephen King
