[Borodog]

I read most of King's early stuff (e.g. The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Firestarter, Christine, The Stand, It, etc), but have read little by him recently except The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (good) and Dreamcatcher (eh, and made into a Godawful movie to boot; did NOT translate well). Specifically I haven't read a lot of stuff that people think are classics by now, Misery, Dark Tower, etc.

I'm not sure why I stopped reading King. It was not because of the quality of the writing, which I think was always above average and occasionally inspired. I think it was more a case of not needing that much darkness in my escapism (which is what paperback novels have always been for me) for a long time.

I firmly believe that the people who believe King is a "hack" do so because he is so prolific. I mean, the guy cranks out massive novels like he's grilling cheese sandwiches. He is a sick-assed vat-grown writing machine, and some people just seem to believe you cannot possibly write that much, that fast, and be any good. Others simply deride the genre he usually sticks to, much as literary snobs dismiss science fiction, although some of the greatest works of 20th century fiction have been "only" science fiction.