Robert R. McCammon

Will Lavender · Apr 21, 2008

Got a chance to meet one of my literary heroes this weekend. I was sitting right beside Mr. McCammon at a book festival here in Kentucky.

The nicest man. I got a chance to tell him how much his books had changed my life, especially "Boy's Life," which I think is pretty much a masterpiece.

He was the first of my heroes I've ever met. It was a very cool experience.

III · Apr 21, 2008

Boy's Life is definitely in my top 3 all-time favorite novels. I've seen vids of McCammon before and he seems like a down to earth Southern gentleman. It's amazing that he stopped writing at the height of his career to spend more time with his family and be a good dad. He's a class act. Congrats on meeting him.

Jcomp · Apr 21, 2008

I'm cruising through "Blue World" still. Very good collection. And I love Swan Song. I'll be catching up on more of his work soon enough.

Will Lavender · Apr 21, 2008

Jcomp said:
I'm cruising through "Blue World" still. Very good collection. And I love Swan Song. I'll be catching up on more of his work soon enough.

There's brand new movie info on "Blue World," actually.

One of McCammon's friends and the guy that runs his website was there (also a super nice guy; they met when the guy was publishing a McCammon newsletter a few years ago). They were talking about the details. If you're interested, McCammon's site has casting info.

III · Apr 21, 2008

JComp, check out Stinger and Wolf's Hour. I think those two, along with Boy's Life are McCammon's true masterpieces. I've read each of them several times and they never get old.

Will Lavender · Apr 21, 2008

III said:
JComp, check out Stinger and Wolf's Hour. I think those two, along with Boy's Life are McCammon's true masterpieces. I've read each of them several times and they never get old.

Wolf's Hour is great.

I also highly recommend Swan Song.

It was amazing how many people came up to McCammon during the festival and talked about those old books. People brought in bags of the old ones to sign. We laughed about his author photo. He told a story about his first multi-book deal. Said he heard about the deal in a phone booth. When he walked out, the sun was shining fiercely and he looked up into it and thought, "It will never get any better than this."

Kerr · Apr 22, 2008

Will Lavender said:
Got a chance to meet one of my literary heroes this weekend. I was sitting right beside Mr. McCammon at a book festival here in Kentucky.

The nicest man. I got a chance to tell him how much his books had changed my life, especially "Boy's Life," which I think is pretty much a masterpiece.

He was the first of my heroes I've ever met. It was a very cool experience.

I hope you slipped in a bid for AW. How cool would it be if he showed up now and then to hang out. OTOH, we'd probably never know.

AnneMarble · Apr 23, 2008

Speaking of Robert R. McCammon, what are the thoughts on Speaks the Nightbird? Even though it's not horror, history itself is often horrific in its details.

The PW review said that he would not win back his horror fans with that book, but they also said that his horror fans had turned away from him after Boy's Life. Uhm, they did? Many of the readers in this thread mentioned it first, as one of their favorites, and I thought many horror fans loved that one.
:Shrug:

Haggis · Apr 23, 2008

I enjoyed the heck out of Speaks the Nightbird, except for McCammon's obsession with describing the style and color of every character's clothing. The story itself was wonderful. What I've got to do is go back and read some of his earlier stuff.

Will Lavender · Apr 23, 2008

AnneMarble said:
Speaking of Robert R. McCammon, what are the thoughts on Speaks the Nightbird? Even though it's not horror, history itself is often horrific in its details. The PW review said that he would not win back his horror fans with that book, but they also said that his horror fans had turned away from him after Boy's Life. Uhm, they did? Many of the readers in this thread mentioned it first, as one of their favorites, and I thought many horror fans loved that one.

Haven't read the book yet, although I did get an autographed copy last weekend.

I find it shocking that he lost fans after Boy's Life. I know it wasn't an outright horror novel, but it was a damn good book. Not sure I believe PW on that one.

(I did notice, however, that the folks who came in with the old McCammon books talked more about the horror novels than they did Boy's Life.)

AnneMarble · Apr 23, 2008

Will Lavender said:
Haven't read the book yet, although I did get an autographed copy last weekend.

I find it shocking that he lost fans after Boy's Life. I know it wasn't an outright horror novel, but it was a damn good book. Not sure I believe PW on that one.

Maybe they think all horror fans are alike and that they only want to read books with holograms and skeletons on tricycles and stories about vampires, zombies, and skeletons on tricycles.

Will Lavender said:
(I did notice, however, that the folks who came in with the old McCammon books talked more about the horror novels than they did Boy's Life.)

The earlier books often hold a special place in our hearts. I remember reading one of his earlier ones (They Thirst) and sharing it with someone in my homeroom in high school, probably in freshman or sophomore year. Yikes, I just had my 25th high school reunion. Do the math.

Robert R. McCammon

Will Lavender

Everything is what it seems.

III

rockin the suburbs

Jcomp

Will Lavender

Everything is what it seems.

III

rockin the suburbs

Will Lavender

Everything is what it seems.

Kerr

I vant to bite you

AnneMarble

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Will Lavender

Everything is what it seems.

AnneMarble

Nefarious Ghost Fan