Thursday, February 9, 2023

On This Day 38 Years Ago: Stephen King Revealed That He Is Richard Bachman

 

Stephen King's House in Bangor, Maine



Stephen King is obviously one of the most famous and prolific authors of all-time. Yet perhaps surprisingly, he gave credit for some of his books to another man, albeit a fictional one.

Indeed, he wrote numerous books under his pen name, Richard Bachman. It was getting to the point where Bachman himself was beginning to get a cult following of his very own. However, some people began to be suspicious, as there were clues that Bachman and King might be one and the same. One of the key clues was, of course, the writing style.

So on this day in 1985, King revealed, albeit reluctantly, that he and Bachman were indeed one and the same. As I understand it, sales of Bachman books skyrocketed shortly after this announcement.

The book in which it was finally revealed was Thinner, although not immediately Indeed, that book received largely favorable reviews. King himself was amused when one reader of Literary Guild said:

"This is what Stephen King would write like if Stephen King could really write."

Wow.

Here is a bit more on this story:



Thinner (novel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinner_(novel)

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