King Forgets Cujo

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TheGooch8494

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2013
67
153
Missouri
I am sure this has shown up somewhere within the existence of this site but since I am new, I thought I would bring it up. I understand King was drinking heavily and had other "party favors" around when constructing Cujo, which is why he doesn't remember writing it. Yet his talent and genius prevail in the publication of this book! I do not know how long it took him to finish the book but I imagine him up day and night (regardless of the booze), bent over a keyboard, hammering out his work. But it still baffles me that he "barely remembers" writing the book and it turned into the amazing work it did. What sort of focus, imagination was running through his mind at this point in time? He was living within the words so much that he blocked out reality until he finished and once completed, moved onto whatever else was next without recalling the process of the story? The King prevails!
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I am sure this has shown up somewhere within the existence of this site but since I am new, I thought I would bring it up. I understand King was drinking heavily and had other "party favors" around when constructing Cujo, which is why he doesn't remember writing it. Yet his talent and genius prevail in the publication of this book! I do not know how long it took him to finish the book but I imagine him up day and night (regardless of the booze), bent over a keyboard, hammering out his work. But it still baffles me that he "barely remembers" writing the book and it turned into the amazing work it did. What sort of focus, imagination was running through his mind at this point in time? He was living within the words so much that he blocked out reality until he finished and once completed, moved onto whatever else was next without recalling the process of the story? The King prevails!
Yup - he is just a naturally talented writer. I am glad he got off the booze before he killed himself. Thank his wife Tabitha for staging an intervention! :love:
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Writing is his passion and his avocation, I guess. Maybe CUJO is his version of, "I can do that with one hand tied behind my back"--lol.

That book was shattering to me as a teenager, and I can't imagine reading it now, as a mom.
 

guido tkp

Well-Known Member
Oct 1, 2009
2,632
480
outside the dome
i, too, had heard of that quote...only when i first heard it, he hadn't (at leaast in the context i'd first read it) mentioned which book it was...

so i, very naturally (i thought), assumed it was 'the tommyknockers' as it was the only book i'd ever read that just didn't seem like 'him'...

it seemed like a 'ghost writer' version of him...

in fact, the only scene that even remotely spoke 'stephen king' to mne was the one with the the soda machine...

then i saw what was either the full quote or a bit wherein he responded to questions about which one it was...and i was floored...

only i thought wrong and we all know what happens when we assume...right ?
 
Jun 20, 2014
21
115
58
Nashville,TN.USA
He was quoted as saying it took him three days to write it. I wonder how long it took him to edit it and get it all polished up for submission to his agent?

Im guessing quite a lot of time.... With Tabitha's help too probably (Thanks Tabitha for getting him back on his feet!!).

I can't critisise people who have had alcohol/drug problems, I am a recouvering alcoholic (8yrs sober) and I know what long term binge drinking can do to your mind. And it cant of been easy on our Hero Writer to go through what he has, get sober and still write us all these fantastic books that he does. It is never easy , but if you have someone there who cares to help you get clean, its the best gift they can ever give you. My mom Heather helped me and I am eternally greatful.
 

SutterKane

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2014
297
1,891
41
One of the urban legends in all art forms is that the best artists have always struggled with some sort of chemical dependency, and alot of great material does come out of those time periods. I guess it has something to do with the emotional state brought on by the substance that alters the train of thought and, ultimately, the product.

I don't think Cujo is one of his better books, but I did like it. It totally makes sense that it was written when he was using cocaine though, the speed of the plot and the books short length, it's not hard to see that it was written by a guy who was writing the ideas as fast as they came to him and trying to move quickly. Having probably ingested my weights worth of cocaine in my 20's, that's the way it always effected me, 100 things on your mind at once, trying to move through things as quickly as possible, being brutally honest with people and not caring how they reacted to it (which might explain this books brutal ending) etc etc.

I can relate to the not being able to remember part only to well. I've been clean since I was 27, about 5 years now, and I have photos of myself in places I never remember being with people I don't remember meeting that drive me crazy. I always had a habit of taking those cheap disposable cameras with me no matter where I went (night clubs, house parties, vacations, etc) but I was so scatter brained from the dope that I hardly ever got them developed. Once I was sober I gathered them all up and had them developed, it was kind of creepy how much from that time period I managed to black out.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Do you know where this quote is? Thanks. I read that The Shining was written in about 4 weeks. Guess he thought "I'll sleep when I'm dead". LOL
I don't remember exactly where I read it, but it is something I've seen at least twice in either an interview or in a quote. Sorry I can't be more specific than that. Bev Vincent Bev Vincent may know where the source is- he knows everything King-ly.
 

champ1966

Well-Known Member
Dec 3, 2011
4,008
10,840
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Wakefield Yorkshire England
I don't remember exactly where I read it, but it is something I've seen at least twice in either an interview or in a quote. Sorry I can't be more specific than that. Bev Vincent Bev Vincent may know where the source is- he knows everything King-ly.
From Bev's 'The Stephen King companion', "Though the process of putting into words the story of a man isolated with his family drew King back to his days of poverty 'Fir much of the three or four months it took me to write the first draft' King recalls..."
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
From Bev's 'The Stephen King companion', "Though the process of putting into words the story of a man isolated with his family drew King back to his days of poverty 'Fir much of the three or four months it took me to write the first draft' King recalls..."
Guess I stand corrected. Maybe it was The Running Man that he wrote while under the influence then? I coulda sworn it was Cujo.