I Keep It In A Jar On My Desk

The Ottawa Citizen was sillier than usual yesterday. This from an item that ran under the byline of one “Misty Harris.” (And what self-respecting reporter would go around calling herself “Misty”? That’s not very nice of me. I can live with it.)

A new national poll has found more Canadians would like to host Stephen King for Thanksgiving dinner than any other author -- although that might mean keeping a closer watch on the old carving knife.

Here’s the silly part (or one of them): I’ve never understood why -- for as long as I’ve been following his career -- some reporters insist on carrying on as though Stephen King is scary. Sure: some of what he writes is scary. But most of what he writes is beautiful. The structure of his prose, the elegance of his words. I’ve always said that if King chose to write about lightbulbs, I’d read him. He just writes that well. The fact is, he doesn’t choose to write about lightbulbs. And though much of his subject matter tends to be dark and even frightening, that’s not why he’s been so popular for so long.

Stephen King is a wonderful writer. There. I’ve said it in public. His books do so well because he understands humans. He knows what frightens us, sure. But he also knows what makes us tick and click. And he knows how to build sympathy for one character and how to make another loathsome and frightening. But, at the heart and core of his books, King writes about people and the human condition.

Other than that, Misty’s piece is not a bad one. The hook is silly -- what authors would you most want to share your Thanksgiving dinner with -- but it does serve to draw attention to books and reading. Heck: even a few Canadian authors make the cut.

Literary darling Margaret Atwood followed closely behind, with John Grisham, Bill Bryson and Alice Munro rounding out the top five.

The balance of the story deals with the fall literary season and the premise that this autumn of 2006 “will see the largest release of titles by blockbuster authors in years.”

From where I’m sitting, whatever gets people talking about books is a good thing. Even if, as I said before, the premise is a bit silly. (Thanks Misty.)

And, for American readers, the whole Thanksgiving thing is salient right now because Canadian Thanksgiving falls on October 9th, this coming Monday. In honor of the holiday, my review of Cooking with Booze ran yesterday on January Magazine. (It seemed appropriately celebratory for the holiday.)

Happy Thanksgiving.