With so many books in his long bibliography, there are bound to be a fewStephen Kingbooks that could benefit from a do-over, andThe Tommyknockersis at the top of that list.The Tommyknockerswas first published in 1987 and one of King’s first serious forays into science fiction. While it was one of the bestselling books of the 1980s across all genres, and undeniably a commercial success, critically, it was another story. The idea of “worst” and “best” in a career as long as King’s is arguably up for debate, but what can’t be argued is thatThe Tommyknockersis at the bottom of theStephen King book rankingfor many fans.
But what’s on the printed page doesn’t always have to be what remains on the printed page, andThe Tommyknockers, which King hates now, deserves a second look –not by readers, but by the author himself.King has long shown that issues with his books stick in his craw, and he’s quite open about which books of his he isn’t fond of, such asDreamcatchersorThe Tommyknockers. The latter book is especially frustrating as it could have been so much better, and it’s ripe for a rewrite.
Stephen King Has Said There Are The Bones Of A Better Book In The Tommyknockers
There Is Potential He Just Didn’t Hit
King has long been brutally honest about his past substance abuse and alcohol addiction, and just as honest about how it negatively impacted his writing. In an interview withRolling Stonein 2014,King targetedThe Tommyknockersas one of those books he’s most unhappy withdue to his state of mind during the time of writing. Still, he acknowledges the story has potential - he just didn’t hit it.
“The Tommyknockersis an awful book. That was the last one I wrote before I cleaned up my act. And I’ve thought about it a lot lately and said to myself, ‘There’s really a good book in here, underneath all the sort of spurious energy that cocaine provides, and I ought to go back.’ The book is about 700 pages long, and I’m thinking, ‘There’s probably a good 350-page novel in there.’"
James Wan Could Save Stephen King’s Most-Hated Adaptation
Stephen King may have hated 1993’s adaptation of The Tommyknockers, but horror legend James Wan’s remake could change the author’s mind.
Mentally,King was not in a good place when he was writingThe Tommyknockers, and he described the very strange, tortured state of mind he was in while writing the book. Even as he was writing it, he knew it wasn’t the story he wanted to tell and that there were serious issues with it:
“It just went on and on. It was a hard one to write, to keep track of all those people in the story. When I finished the first draft, it looked like the Bataan Death March, with lots of cross-outs and stuff. I locked myself in the bathroom and laughed hysterically and cried and then laughed again. I never did that with a book.”
That torturous process is clear in the finished product, which is largely agreed by his fans to be a self-indulgent slog of a story. But he’s right:there are the bones of a much better book in there and that’s why it’s such a frustrating book to read.His sharp instincts shine through at times only to be dulled by the drugs and alcohol and dragged back into being a meandering mess. If King were so inclined, he could take a hatchet toThe Tommyknockers, cut out about half of it without losing anything in the process, and come out with a much stronger, tighter story that’s actually pretty good.
It Wouldn’t Be The First Time King Has Re-released A Revised Edition Of A Book
He Did It With The Gunslinger
Even though King said “I ought to go back” over a decade ago,it wouldn’t be out of the question to see him revisitThe Tommyknockersand re-release an edited version. King is known to play the long game with his stories, regularly tweaking things or tying two books together that were released years apart, or setting something up only to provide the payoff decades later. So it’s not as though a decade is a very long time for King to percolate on an idea.
King is known to play the long game with his stories, regularly tweaking things or tying two books together that were released years apart, or setting something up only to provide the payoff decades later.
Further,Stephen Kinghas also already done it before with previous books, most notablythe revised and expanded edition ofThe Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. He re-released a new version of that book in 2003,21 years after the original version ofThe Gunslingerwas published. Granted, he did it to shore up inconsistencies created by the latter books in his ongoingDark Towerseries, but it still shows a precedent for the author going back and reworking books he’s not happy with. It’s unlikely it will ever happen withThe Tommyknockers, but if King were ever interested in releasing a revised version, there are plenty of people who would read.
