- Audio CD
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged edition (Sep 13 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743539869
- ISBN-13: 978-0743539869
- Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 12.7 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 68 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,831,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
About the Author
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Lisey's Story and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good for Stephen King fans to help explain their addiction, May 8 2005
By Rennie Petersen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Building Bridges: Stephen King Live at the National Book Awards (Audio CD)
In 2003 the National Book Foundation in the USA awarded Stephen King a "Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters". This audio CD contains an introductory speech by author Walter Mosley followed by Stephen King's acceptance speech.The total time for the CD is approx. 30 minutes, including approx. 3 minutes of applause. Incidentally, the complete text of Walter Mosley's introduction and Stephen King's acceptance speech is available on the National Book Foundation's web site.
Walter Mosley's introduction, which is about five minutes, is very good. He talks about the relevance of "horror stories" to modern people living in a safe and civilized society. Because despite modern society being relatively safe and civilized there are still many risks - just watch the news on TV. Furthermore being a human being is inherently lonely and fraught with risks of many kinds.
This inherent riskiness of human life has the effect on some of us to seek out books that let us read about ordinary people confronted with horrifying experiences arising from ordinary situations. We find it comforting that even though horror may strike us, we will hopefully, like a person in a Stephen King book, find the strength to stand up to the horror and survive it.
Stephen King's acceptance speech is approximately 20 minutes. He starts by talking for 10 minutes about how he got started as an author, largely thanks to his wife Tabitha. This story is well-known to those of us who have read Stephen King's book "On Writing".
He then spends five minutes talking about how important it is for an author to be honest, to write what he/she really means and feels. Mr. King makes the claim that he never wrote for the money, and that he finds accusations that popular writers write for the money to be insulting.
Stephen King concludes his speech by talking about how popular authors are looked down on by the literary community. He says that it is important to "build bridges" between the authorship of popular fiction writers and literary writers. He mentions Elmore Leonard, Peter Straub, Nora Lofts, Jack Ketchum, Jodi Picoult, Greg Iles, John Grisham, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Pete Hamill. I'm assuming Stephen King is recommending these authors, although he doesn't actually say this.
The bottom line is that if you're hooked on Stephen King's books then listening to this CD is entertaining and provides some interesting insights.
Rennie Petersen
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
King even speaks with grace!, Dec 3 2004
By that dude from rural MN - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Building Bridges: Stephen King Live at the National Book Awards (Audio CD)
This title is probably only for King die-hards. That said, it is a wonderful speech by sai King. He tells of his early days, waiting for his wife (Tabitha King) to tell him to get a real job. She never tells him that. In fact, she goes on to save Carrie from the trash can. True love, I beg ya!Sai King goes on to chatise the uppity judges for not reading popular fiction. He goes on to mention Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Elmore Lenord(sp) and a bunch of other authors. "Have you read them? Have the judges read them?"
Good stuff. His speaking voice is as wonderful as his writing voice. A great addition to your King collection for only nine bucks.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Recognition for Being an Honest Writer", Jan 21 2005
By Richard Stoehr "Idle Rich" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Building Bridges: Stephen King Live at the National Book Awards (Audio CD)
The awarding of the 2003 National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Stephen King caused quite a stir in the literary community, as King himself is quick to acknowledge in his 25-minute acceptance speech, recorded on this CD. It's called "Building Bridges" because King talk about bridges in his speech, specifically about the bridges that he believes can be built between popular fiction and so-called "literary" fiction.For King fans like myself, much of the material King discusses here will be familiar from his apocryphal history (the story of his wife retrieving the pages of "Carrie" from the trash is told here again), or from his book "On Writing." Even so, hearing King talking about it in his own voice is charming and well worth the listen. He speaks with an open sincerity here, in loving words regarding his wife, and in proud words regarding his love for his chosen craft. There are funny moments that only King could pull off, like when he suggests to the audience that even though it isn't likely, the elevator they take to their hotel rooms might -- just might -- plummet down 30 floors. And there are disarmingly sweet moments, such as his explanation that while he didn't marry his wife Tabitha for her typewriter, he admits it was a factor.
What comes through most strongly in this relatively short speech is King's love for the written word, and his respect for anyone who makes the effort to share in his craft. He gives credit to his fellow writers across the board, genre writers and literary writers alike, and he talks about good fiction being able to express the truth at the center of the lie. If you're looking for a reason why King was given this award, look no further than this speech -- in King's simple, honest style, it eloquently expresses many of the reasons why King deserves the award, both in terms of his contribution to the world of words and his unabashed love for it.
I may be a little biased, but I can't think of anyone who deserves the recognition more, and it made me smile to hear him talk about it.
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