Amid the bachelorette parties and cowboy hats that came with CMA Fest this past weekend, book readers packed the Ryman on Saturday to pledge allegiance to the legendary writer Stephen King. On a night where Lower Broad was full of extroverts, it was a joy to see so many hermit-types and horror lovers pour out of the Ryman and into the fray with a copy of King's latest book End of Watch in tow.
Dressed in a plain red T-shirt tucked into his jeans and tennis shoes he said his grandson bought him, King gave a more than an hourlong talk on everything from his first published novel Carrie to his latest crime thriller series (End of Watch is the last of three) to playing in a band with Amy Tan, who dressed in dominatrix gear and whipped King and other writers during the show.
King also referenced his childhood during his talk — telling the audience he went to school in a one-room schoolhouse in Maine where they basically used a hole in the ground out back as a restroom. Referencing recent legislation addressing who can use which bathroom, King said we should all feel lucky to be able to "flush the toilet when we shit."
King's speech was incredibly funny and approachable, and he didn't seem to attempt to come off as a writing savior or take himself too seriously. At times he'd remember a point he meant to make earlier in the speech and blast full force into the narrative: He realized near the end of his talk that he had wanted to proclaim at the beginning of his talk how excited he was to see so many book readers at the Ryman on weekend booked with Bonnaroo and CMA Fest.
"There are three Steves," King told the audience.
There's the Steve at home, who takes out the trash and cleans up dog poop off the porch, he said. There's "public Steve," who speaks at places like the Ryman. And then there's "scary Steve," who creates stories like Carrie, Misery and The Shining. (He said writing the scene where the old woman comes out of the bath tub in room 217 in The Shining scared the shit out of him.)
"You don't want to meet scary Steve," King said.
King's sold-out appearance at the Ryman was in conjunction with Parnassus and Salon@615.
