The Road to The Dark Tower (58 page)

Peter Straub, King’s collaborator on two books with Dark Tower connections, says that the way King has interwoven the fictional reality of his novels is both playful and serious.

[I]t has given him the liberty to create a grand, gestural suggestiveness as to moral and theological depths ordinarily beyond the scope of individual works of fiction. Great, explanatory meanings hover in the air, musically, as resolution seems to draw near. We know the author has something magnificently significant in mind, and that he is working, maybe even groping, his way toward it. It’s very gutsy. This goes well beyond the normal wish to have all of one’s work eventually be seen as a single entity. . . . What is surprising is that even a writer as true to himself as Stephen King could find so much ongoing possibility, so much space so full of
unexpected promise, in an idea which first came to him in his late teens. . . . That King can and wishes to do so indicates two things about him: that his imagination has been internally consistent since his youth, and that even very early on he had an instinct for what would evoke emotional power from him.
³

King explores the significance of the
Dark Tower
series as a part of his body of work in the afterword to
Wizard and Glass:

Roland’s story is my Jupiter—a planet that dwarfs all the others (at least from my own perspective), a place of strange atmosphere, crazy landscape, and savage gravitational pull. Dwarfs the others, did I say? I think there’s more to it than that, actually. I am coming to understand that Roland’s world (or worlds) actually
contains
all the others of my making; there is a place in Mid-World for Randall Flagg, Ralph Roberts, the wandering boys from
The Eyes of the Dragon,
even Father Callahan, the damned priest from
’Salem’s Lot,
who rode out of New England on a Greyhound bus and wound up dwelling on the border of a terrible Mid-World land called Thunderclap. This seems to be where they all finish up, and why not? Mid-World was here first, before all of them, dreaming under the blue gaze of Roland’s bombardier eyes. [DT4]

When asked if he believed the
Dark Tower
series was his magnum opus, King responded:

Yep, I do. Each time I would stop, I would come back and say, “This time it’s going to be really hard and this time I’m really going to have to dig and force myself to do the job.” And every time it was like the story was just waiting to take me back in. I would say to myself, “Why did I ever stop for as long as I did?” There’s no real answer to that except that when I finished each book there seemed to have to be a pause for the well to refill. . . . Having finished the Dark Tower, it puts a real bow on the whole package. It does kind of summarize everything else. And I think, after that, that everything would be almost kind of like an epilogue to what I’ve done with my life’s work.
⁴

“The Dark Tower finishes everything that I really wanted to say.”
⁵
What else, then, is a magnum opus if not something that both ties together and summarizes a person’s life’s work? On the
Today Show,
King said that he started working on a novel after finishing the last volume of the
Dark Tower
series, but it “just went belly-up.” He said he told his wife, “Maybe I really did break it [his creative ability] working on these last three gunslinger books.”
⁶

“I think that probably I’ll find some other things to write. And if I like them, I’ll publish them,” he told Rene Rodriguez of the
Miami Herald,
but he told the
Walden Book Report,
“I really don’t know what comes next.”
⁷
As recently as October 2003, King said that he’d tried a couple of times to write a novel but claimed to be struggling. “I’m real flat when it comes to that. I need a little creative Viagra, I guess.”
⁸

King also says that, eventually, all the
Dark Tower
books will be rewritten. “The same way that if you finished a novel in first or second draft, you’d want to redo it and polish it and make it shine. But I really wanted people to read the new volumes, five, six and seven, because I worked hard on all of them and because the whole thing is finally done.”
⁹

Many readers have traveled with Roland for more than twenty years. Now, the entire story is told, the secrets of Roland’s universe are revealed and the Dark Tower stands firm again as the Beams that support it mend themselves and the field of roses sing.

Roland is back in the desert on the trail of the man in black, but this time there is hope that he will grasp the significance of his quest. That he will come to understand the universe and his place in it. That, in fully understanding himself, he will prevail.

That’s pretty close to “happily ever after.”

A road lined with roses still leads to this slate gray Dark Tower that contains everything, both universal and personal. The magnum opus around which all of King’s realities revolve.

Will people travel down the road to the Dark Tower in years—in generations—to come?

As they say in Mid-World, there will be water if God wills it. In the end, there is only ka.

¹
Interview with Janet Maslin at the Jacob Burns Film Center, October 30, 2003.

²
Walden Book Report,
July 2003.

³
Peter Straub, in “The Dark Tower’s Architecture,” posted to the Penguin Web site in 1997.

⁴
Interview with Ben Reese on
Amazon.com
, March 2003.

⁵
Interview with Rene Rodriguez,
Miami Herald,
May 19, 2003.

⁶
Interview with Matt Lauer, the
Today Show,
June 23, 2003.

⁷
Interview with
Walden Book Report,
July 2003.

⁸
Interview with Janet Maslin at the Jacob Burns Film Center, October 30, 2003.

⁹
Interview with
Walden Book Report,
July 2003.

APPENDIX I:
TIMELINE (FACT)

• Fall 1969: Poem “The Dark Man” published in
  Ubris.
  
• June–August 1970: “Slade” is published in the
  Maine Campus
  newspaper.
  
• June 19, 1970: King starts writing “The Gunslinger.”
  
• December 1971: Poem “The Hardcase Speaks” published in
  Contraband #2.
  
• October 1978: “The Gunslinger” is published in
  The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
  (F&SF).
  
• October 1979: “The Way Station” is accepted for publication in F&SF.
  
• April 1980: “The Way Station” is published in F&SF.
  
• June 1980: King tells his agent, Kirby McCauley, to complete the deal for
  The Gunslinger
  with Donald M. Grant.
  
• February 1981: “The Oracle and the Mountains” appears in F&SF.
  
• July 1981: “The Slow Mutants” appears in F&SF.
  
• November 1981: “The Gunslinger and the Dark Man” appears in F&SF.
  
• August 1982: Donald M. Grant publishes
  The Gunslinger.
  
• September 1983:
  Pet Sematary
  is published, and the existence of
  The Gunslinger
  becomes known to the world at large.
  
• January 1984:
  The Gunslinger
  , second edition, published by Donald M. Grant.
  
• August 1984: NAL pitches the idea of a trade paperback release of
  The Gunslinger
  , but King passes.
  
• January 1985: Second printing of
  The Gunslinger
  sold out from the publisher.
  Castle Rock Newsletter
  (CRN) reports seeing
  The Gunslinger
  offered for $50–$100.
  
• February 1985: CRN reports on a Norfolk, Virginia, article that speculated the reason why
  The Gunslinger
  was so hard to find was that it was a “dark flop.” The article gave King’s mailing address, which inspired a lot of mail from Virginia.
  
• July 1985: CRN reports $165 for a first printing of
  The Gunslinger
  ; $65–$85 for second.
  
• October 1985: A 1986 publication date for
  The Drawing of the Three
  is postulated.
  
• January 1986:
  The Gunslinger
  second printings $75; first printings $200.
  
• June 15, 1986: King begins to write
  The Drawing of the Three.
  A tentative release date of “sometime in early 1987” is given in CRN.
  
• September 1986: King finishes writing
  The Drawing of the Three.
  
• February 1987: Donald M. Grant starts taking orders for
  The Drawing of the Three:
  800 signed ($100) and 30,000 trade ($35 postpaid) copies. Paperback sale of
  The Gunslinger
  and
  The Drawing of the Three
  for a proposed 1988 release.
  
• April/May 1987: Excerpt of
  The Drawing of the Three
  released in CRN.
  
• June 1987:
  The Drawing of the Three
  is published. NAL trade paperback of
  The Gunslinger
  and
  The Drawing of the Three
  announced for late 1988 release with a mass-market paperback to follow.
  
• September 1987: Last call from Donald M. Grant on the limited trade of
  The Drawing of the Three.
  Signed edition is out of print and appears in ads for $500.
  
• May 1988: NAL audio of
  The Gunslinger
  released.
  
• September 1988: Plume trade paperback of
  The Gunslinger
  released.
  
• January 1989: NAL audio of
  The Drawing of the Three
  released. Grant trade hardcover selling for $75–$100.
  
• March 1989: Plume trade paperback of
  The Drawing of the Three
  released. King says in CRN that volume three is two or three years away from publication.
  
• June 1989: Paperback of
  The Drawing of the Three
  is fifth on the best-seller list.
  
• October 1989: King begins
  The Waste Lands.
  
• January 1990: King completes
  The Waste Lands.
  
• December 1990: “The Bear,” an excerpt of
  The Waste Lands
  , appears in F&SF.
  
• 1991: NAL audio of
  The Waste Lands
  issued.
  
• August 1991: Donald M. Grant edition of
  The Waste Lands
  published.
  
• January 1992: Plume trade paperback of
  The Waste Lands
  published.
  
• April 1994:
  Insomnia
  published.
  
• August 29, 1994: King says on
  Larry King Live
  that he will finish the
  Dark Tower
  series in back-to-back books.
  
• July 1995:
  Rose Madder
  published.
  
• May 1996: A summer 1997 release of
  Wizard and Glass
  is announced in
  The Green Mile,
  part 3, “Coffey’s Hands.”
  
• July 4, 1996: King begins
  Wizard and Glass.
  
• September 1996:
  Desperation
  and
  The Regulators
  published.
  
• October 1996: King writes introduction to
  Wizard and Glass
  preview booklet.
  
• November 1996: Preview booklet of
  Wizard and Glass
  released in time for Christmas, bundled with
  Desperation
  and
  The Regulators.
  King issues his infamous “pissing and moaning” commentary to newsgroup
  alt.books.stephen-king
  .
  
• March 1997: First draft of
  Wizard and Glass
  complete. Plume release date announced.
  
• April 3, 1997: Donald M. Grant gets the final draft of
  Wizard and Glass.
  
• August 9, 1997: First copies of
  Wizard and Glass
  ship.
  
• August 15, 1997:
  Wizard and Glass
  appears.
  
• September 20, 1997:
  Wizard and Glass
  appears on the
  New York Times
  hardcover list, the first time a book from a specialty publisher has ever done so.
  
• October/November 1997: “Everything’s Eventual” appears in F&SF.
  
• November 15, 1997: Plume trade paperback of
  Wizard and Glass
  appears.
  
• Fall 1997: Donald M. Grant
  Wizard and Glass
  out of print.
  
• September 1998: Donald M. Grant issues
  The Gunslinger
  (third printing),
  The Drawing of the Three
  (second edition) and
  The Waste Lands
  (first edition) as a slipcased gift set.
  
• October 1998: “The Little Sisters of Eluria” published in
  Legends.
  
• June 19, 1999: King is struck and nearly killed by a minivan while walking along the roadside near his summer home.
  
• September 1999:
  Hearts in Atlantis
  published.
  
• July 2001: King starts writing
  Wolves of the Calla.
  
• August 21, 2001: Prologue from
  Wolves of the Calla
  posted at
  www.stephen-king.com
  . King announces plans to finish the series back-to-back. Estimated time to publication: two years.
  
• September 11, 2001: King writes the chapter from
  Wolves of the Calla
  dealing with Father Callahan as he travels across America, fighting vampires and keeping ahead of the low men.
  
• September 15, 2001:
  Black House
  published.
  
• October 3, 2001: Stephen King day at UMO. King reads the section written September 11, 2001.
  
• December 8, 2001: King finishes
  Wolves of the Calla
  and announces the title and illustrator (Bernie Wrightson). Immediately begins Book VI, as yet untitled.
  
• February 24, 2002: King visits Frank Muller. Writes the chapter where Roland and Eddie meet King en route.
  
• March 2002: Grant begins production of
  Wolves of the Calla.
  
• March 24, 2002: King finishes writing
  Song of Susannah.
  
• April 2002: King announces title of
  Song of Susannah.
  Begins
  The Dark Tower.
  Illustrator for
  Song of Susannah
  and
  The Dark Tower
  announced.
  
• June 2002: King interviews himself about the
  Dark Tower
  books on Web site. He’s a third of the way through
  The Dark Tower
  and will take a month off to recharge after producing 1,900 manuscript pages in the past year.
  
• July 2002: King returns to
  The Dark Tower.
  
• September 2002: Tentative publication dates for
  Wolves of the Calla
  ,
  Song of Susannah
  and
  The Dark Tower
  issued by King’s official Web site.
  
• September 30, 2002: King tells Mitch Albom he has two or three pages left to
  The Dark Tower.
  
• October 3, 2002: King finishes the first draft of
  The Dark Tower.
  
• January 26, 2003: King writes introduction to Robin Furth’s
  Dark Tower
  Concordance.
  
• February 2003: “The Tale of Gray Dick,” an excerpt from
  Wolves of the Calla
  , published in
  McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales,
  edited by Michael Chabon.
  
• February 13, 2003: Joint press release from Viking, Grant and Scribner outlining their publication schedules.
  
• February 25, 2003: King explains his decision to rewrite
  The Gunslinger
  for the new hardcover issue.
  
• March 11, 2003: King finishes revisions and proofing of
  Wolves of the Calla.
  
• May 28, 2003: King finishes revising
  Song of Susannah.
  
• June 23, 2003: First four
  Dark Tower
  books reissued in trade hardcover by Viking with new introductions.
  The Gunslinger
  is revised and expanded.
  
• June 24, 2003: First four
  Dark Tower
  books reissued in trade paperback by Plume.
  
• July 2003: Volume I of Robin Furth’s
  Concordance
  is published.
  
• July 3, 2003: Grant starts taking orders for
  Wolves of the Calla.
  
• November 4, 2003: Grant and Scribner publish
  Wolves of the Calla.
  
• June 8, 2004: Grant and Scribner publish
  Song of Susannah.
  
• September 2004: Volume II of
  Concordance
  is published.
  
• September 21, 2004: Grant and Scribner publish
  The Dark Tower.
  
• January 2005:
  Wolves of the Calla
  appears in trade paperback.
  
• April 2005:
  Song of Susannah
  appears in trade paperback.
  
• July 2005:
  The Dark Tower
  appears in trade paperback.