Las Vegas Review-Journal - The Book Nook

 This review is geared toward the many Stephen King fans out there in the reading world. A new biography about him, “The Stephen King Illustrated Companion,” has just been published by Barnes & Noble. Yes, Barnes & Noble has now gotten into the publishing business. In fact, you can only buy this large hardcover book on Barnes & Noble.com, or through one of their many outlets around the country.
  The author of this gorgeous and extremely informative text is Bev Vincent, who’s primarily known for his longtime running column, News from the Dead Zone, in each issue of Cemetery Dance magazine. Vincent also is the author of more than 50 short stories and is presently working on his first novel. Now, what about this new biography by him on Stephen King?
  First, I was surprised that “The Stephen King Illustrated Companion” was a hardcover and not a trade paperback because of its price of $24.98. When you consider the size of the book, plus its length and the countless photographs inside it, you would normally expect a price of at least $39.98. That certainly pleased me. It meant that I was getting my money’s worth with this book.
  Second, this particular biography covers the life of King from his early childhood right up to the present day with pictures covering everything, plus a look at his major novels over the past 30 years.
  Third, each chapter has a large envelope attached to it in what reminds me of clear rice paper and with a number of really neat surprises inside. These envelopes look so good that you almost don’t want to open them to see in greater detail what each one holds, but you most certainly will. I promise. It’s like a child having to open the closet door in his bedroom at night to see if monsters are hiding inside of it. 
  The first envelope has photocopies (unbelievably done photocopies that look like the originals) of some of his earlier stories that were published by the Comics Review and The Drum, his high school newspaper. The story in Comics Review is part of “I Was a Teen-aged Grave Robber,” and there’s an autograph by King at the top of the story in light-blue ink. It looks just like an actual autograph that was done for the story’s inclusion within this book.
  In another envelope is a short note to the editors at Doubleday concerning the final draft of “The Stand” and its foreword. Man, this looks so darn real that it nearly blows your mind away. The photocopying of this material has to be state of the art.
  Another envelope has typed manuscript pages from “The Dead Zone” and handwritten manuscript pages from “Cujo,” and then there’s a reproduction of Issue No. 1 of the Castle Rock Newsletter, which I subscribed to when it was being printed by King and his staff. And, there are more envelopes throughout the book with King collectibles that will amaze readers. 
  Vincent definitely covers all the major points in King’s life with his personal body of knowledge about the master of the macabre and his insightful clarity at being able to weave it all together into an enjoyable story. The book takes an honest look at one human being’s life, complete with its up and downs, successes and failures.
  Lastly, there are hundreds of photographs in this book that show King as a boy with the family dog, as a college student working on the first “Dark Tower” novel, plus during the different stages of his life when “Carrie” was published, and then” The Shining” and “The Stand,” etc. There are still shots from the numerous movies that have been adapted from King’s works, along with photographs of letters to his many editors and fans. One photograph shows the cover of “Misery’s Return” by Paul Sheldon, who is the central character in the novel, “Misery.” In the photograph of the cover for “Misery’s Return,” you see the heroine, Misery, embracing a muscled hunk with utter passion. Besides being a hunk like Fabio, the man in the cover also happens to have King’s face. I bet King’s wife, Tabitha, hung that up in the bedroom as a reminder for him to stay in shape. 
  Needless to say, this is a must-buy book for any King fan. It’s a fabulous adventure that will enthrall all the readers who’ve been influenced by this author’s work. This is a book readers will treasure and want to read again, discovering new bits of information that were missed the first and second time around.