Stephen King: Early in my career, I spotted a woman reading CARRIE on an airplane – 2022

Stephen King: Early in my career, I spotted a woman reading CARRIE on an airplane. I made the mistake of asking her if she liked it. She thought it over and gave her 2-word critique: “Shitty read.”

‘Carrie’ was King’s first published novel, released on April 5, 1974, with a first print-run of 30,000 copies. Set primarily in the then-future year of 1979, it revolves around the eponymous Carrie White, a friendless, bullied high school girl from an abusive religious household who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who torment her. In the process, she causes one of the worst local disasters the town has ever had. King has commented that he finds the work to be “raw” and “with a surprising power to hurt and horrify.”

Much of the book uses newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books to tell how Carrie destroyed the fictional town of Chamberlain, Maine while exacting revenge on her sadistic classmates and her own mother, Margaret.

Carrie was one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools in the 1990s because of its violence, cursing, sex and negative view of religion. –Wikipedia