Stephen King's grocery list (1992?)

[James Callan]

That could easily be where I first read it -- I was a voracious King fan through most of the '80s. I wonder if there are published critics who actually said that, or if King was just paraphrasing?

I'm not surprised to find out that the trope predates King, though.

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> From the Afterword to _Different Seasons_, 1982.
>
> "The result of all this is that, when it came to the novellas you've
> just read, I found myself in a puzzling position.  I had gotten to a
> place with my novels where people were saying King could publish his
> laundry list if he wanted to (and there are critics who claim that's
> exactly what I've been doing for the last eight years or so), but I
> couldn't publish these tales because they were too long to be short and
> too short to be really long.  If you know what I mean."
>
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "James Callan" <james.callan at COMCAST.NET>
> > To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 8:04 PM
> > Subject: Stephen King's grocery list (1992?)
> >
> >
> > > For years, I've heard variations on the idea that Stephen
> > King could
> > > publish his grocery list and have a best seller. I've been
> > trying to
> > > track down the origin of that idea -- the original quote,
> > even -- but
> > > I'm not having much luck.
> > >
> > > One of the few related quotes I could find through Proquest
> > was from
> > > the LA Times on Jan. 19, 1992, in a parody list of "a few
> > upcoming films":
> > >
> > > "Stephen King's Grocery List." A thriller torn from the
> > shopping cart
> > > of America's horror master. Martin Sheen stars as the Evil
> > Bagel. (De
> > > Laurentiis Ent.)
> > >
> > >
> > http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=61567469&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=11206
> > > &RQT=309&VName=PQD
> > >
> > > But I'd swear I'd heard that said about him even in the
> > '80s, when he
> > > was at the height of his best-selling powers. Can anyone find an
> > > earlier version of the phrase? Or figure out if it originated about
> > > Stephen King, or was said about earlier authors?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > James Callan
> > > neologasm.com
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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