The Shape under the Sheet: The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia

Library Journal

This monstrous volume, admits author/compiler Spignesi, ``is for the King reader who literally wants to know everything they possibly can about the World of King.'' That aptly sums up Spignesi's book, grandiose aims, careless grammar, and all. Besides indexing King's published and unpublished works (a job that takes up about half the book's length), Spignesi provides brief primary and secondary bibliographies, a publishing history and table of contents for the King newsletter Castle Rock , and detailed discussions of recordings and film adaptations. There are interviews with King's secretary, brother, critics, admirers, collectors, and others, stories and (very bad) poems by many of these same individuals, and even bibliographies of the works of these peripheral players. Finally, there are more than a dozen pieces that Spignesi himself finds unclassifiable, including an embarrassing dissection of ``The Three Levels of Stephen King Fandom.'' In short, this is a volume whose coverage and organization makes it of marginal reference value, but it is also of enormous potential interest to King's readers. Libraries that already own such basic volumes as The Stephen King Companion (LJ 11/15/84) will need to decide whether this new work's cur rency and level of detail justify its stiff price. The publisher notes that this is a collector's edition, with only 3000 copies being printed, thus the cost.--Ed.--Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.

Booknews

A unique project, lovingly executed, with lavish production values (e.g. the quality of the paper, the print, the beautiful original drawings), and an ingenious organizing principle--at its heart is an exhaustive 18,000-entry concordance to every character, location, and physical object mentioned in every King novel and short story. Spignesi also includes interviews with friends, relatives, and other writers, a biographical profile, reference guides, a bibliography, photographs, too much more to mention. Most writers have to die before they get this kind of treatment. Published by Popular Culture, Ink., PO Box 1839, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)