Peter Straub

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AchtungBaby

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2011
3,856
15,540
I did a search of this forum but couldn't find a Peter Straub thread. If there is one, my apologies!

Anyway! I've had a number of Peter Straub books for a while but have only now gotten around to them. I'm reading Ghost Story and HOLY SH*T. I'm blown away.

Not sure what I'll read next...maybe Julia? Or If You Could See Me Now? I've been reading a lot of 60s/70s horror lately.
 

Lily Sawyer

B-ReadAndWed
Jun 27, 2009
6,625
15,016
South Carolina
I did a search of this forum but couldn't find a Peter Straub thread. If there is one, my apologies!

Anyway! I've had a number of Peter Straub books for a while but have only now gotten around to them. I'm reading Ghost Story and HOLY SH*T. I'm blown away.

Not sure what I'll read next...maybe Julia? Or If You Could See Me Now? I've been reading a lot of 60s/70s horror lately.
I loved Mystery.
 

Shoesalesman

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2010
1,814
4,093
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Ghost Story is my favorite book EVER!!!
Read the majority of his work, having finished A Dark Matter a few months ago. His style is less fluid than most, but he packs a punch!!

Under Venus was a tough one, don't think I even finished it. It's not a horror book, which is what probably threw me off. Of note, The Throat was good, so was Koko and Floating Dragon.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Here is a quote from an interview with Peter Straub (from the 70s):

Alex: How did you become friends with Stephen King?

Peter: Back in 1976-79, when both of us were just beginning, we liked each other’s work a lot. He wrote blurbs for two of my books, and I wrote to thank him. Then the Kings moved to England, and we met and got along very well. That was the start of things, the sense of shared concerns, of a kind of brotherhood.

Alex: How did you end up writing a book together?

Peter: One weekend when we all lived in England, the Kings came to visit us in our house in Crouch End, London. Steve and I stayed up late, drinking beer and talking. Very late at night, Steve asked me if I thought it might be fun to collaborate on a book sometime. I said yes, I did think it would be fun to do that.

Alex: What was the process for this?

Peter: Intense individual thinking and note-taking, exchanged letters, several meeting to discuss the plot, then a long outline. After that we got together and began writing the book side-by-side.

Peter-Straub-and-Stephen--007.jpg
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
I really like collections of short stories. I think I got my love for them from Stephen because I believe some of Steve's best writing is in those shorter tales. So now, I try to read a writer's collections of short stories before any novel, just to get a feel for their abilities.

Every word has to count in a short story. Every idea, every character --everything--has to be tight and smooth. I can get a good feel most times for an author by reading their short stuff.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Ghost Story is my favorite Straub novel. Has one of the best opening lines (or 'hookers', as King calls them) ever. Liked Shadowland alot. Julia was good, but the tone and voice were different than his later novels. I haven't read his later books. I read his first book in the 'blue rose' series, but it didn't capture my interest much. Pork Pie Hat and The Buffalo Hunter were good tales.
 

AchtungBaby

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2011
3,856
15,540
Okay I'm a little confused on something in If You Could See Me Now. Any help would greatly appreciated :)

Alright, so Miles and (1955) Alison are first cousins - their moms are sisters. Duane is also their cousin, but how? Who's child is he? I get the vibe he's the child of Jessie, the grandmother (and I'm assuming mother of Miles and Alison's moms?) but that would make Duane Miles and Alison's uncle, not cousin. I'm just very confused... I want someone to help me out because this is a stellar novel but this one little thing is sticking in my brain. Haha! I know Straub's novels don't give everything away at once and he likes making the reader feel unaware/in the dark/etc. but this is so annoying and I feel like I'm missing something obvious!
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Ghost Story is my favorite book EVER!!!
Read the majority of his work, having finished A Dark Matter a few months ago. His style is less fluid than most, but he packs a punch!!

Under Venus was a tough one, don't think I even finished it. It's not a horror book, which is what probably threw me off. Of note, The Throat was good, so was Koko and Floating Dragon.
I've been wondering about The Throat. I keep looking at it in the secondhand store and wondering if it would be good--thanks for the tip :)