PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Tonight was the fourth episode of “
Under The Dome” here on CBS 3.
The adaptation of the Stephen King novel is a hit.
King has had 50 books published.
But there’s one book he doesn’t want anybody to read anymore.
In fact, as Chris May reports, it’s the only book he wrote that’s no longer being published.
“It’s not in print because it was a novel about a kid who goes to school one day and shoots his algebra teacher and holds his class hostage,” explains Stephen King.
In 1997, “
Rage”, published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, was found in the locker of a Paducah, Kentucky high school student, who shot and killed three of his classmates.
“That was enough for me,” said King. “I don’t think that books or movies are ever the cause of this sort of violence.”
But King thinks violent books and movies can act as an accelerant.
“I didn’t want “
Rage” to be one of those accelerants, so I pulled the book, King said. “I felt that was part of a fantasy scenario with these people and I didn’t want it to happen with anybody else.”
The author continued, “It was not gun control, it was book control in this case and I think there a lot of pro-gun people like Wayne LaPierre who could take a lesson from that and show a little more responsibility.”
LaPierre is executive director of the National Rifle Association.
“I have no patience with people of the LaPierre stripe who say, ‘the deaths of innocent children or the deaths of unarmed bystanders is just part of the price we pay for our second amendment freedoms,’” said King.
You can see the interview with Mr. King at this link, but you have to sit through a commercial that last about 30 seconds:
Stephen King Discusses Book He Doesn’t Want Anyone To Read « CBS Philly