Stephen King (IT) and Toni Morrison (Beloved) show how we can live in thrall to our fears but also how we can move past them.
Tag Archives: Stephen King
Morrison’s Healthy Response to Trauma
Stephen King Understands MAGA
Stephen King is the most banned author in America at the moment. It may be because he depicts America’s dark side so vividly.
Mirror on the Wall, Who Is Evilest?
Lit Hub had a reader poll to determine the evilest literary character. Maybe not surprisingly in the Trump era, Orwell’s dictator won.
Post of the Year: Plagues in Literature
A survey of literature through the ages that has dealt with plagues.
Sci-Fi Provides Pandemic Guidance
Our society is currently split on the value of scientific expertise. That split goes back at least as far as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”
A Literary Survey of What Plagues Mean
A survey of how literary authors have grappled for meaning in times of pestilence bolsters our own search. I look at Sophocles, Virgil, Defoe, Porter, Camus, King, Mandel, Atwood, and Erdrich.
The Courage to Face the Darkness
In “IT” Stephen King shows how Americans close their eyes to horrific truths. Certain Americans have been closing their eyes to COVID19, showing King to know what he’s talking about.
King on How Pandemics Spread
The coronavirus pandemic brings to mind Stephen King’s “The Stand.” There, the government starts the virus. In our own world, Trump has disassembled the agencies designed to stop pandemics.
Stephen King and Detention Centers
Stephen King’s latest novels unconsciously reflect contemporary events, with kids imprisoned in detention centers.

