Book excerpt: In this newly available paperback edition, Spignesi selects and ranks the top 101 works out of the more than 550 created by Stephen King during his prolific career. Each chosen work is synopsized and reviewed by the writer who Entertainment Weekly has called "the world's leading expert on Stephen King." Fiction and nonfiction, well known and obscure, scary and scarier -- discussions of King's best short stories, novellas, screenplays, novels, essays, forewords, articles, introductions, and more are all here! From his best-selling novels (The Dead Zone, The Shining, Carrie, The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, It, Riding the Bullet, The Plant, The Dark Tower series, Insomnia), to short stories and novellas ("Survivor Type," "The Last Rung on the Ladder," "Gramma," "Shawshank Redemption"), thought-provoking nonfiction (Danse Macabre, On Writing, "Remembering John," "My Little Serrated Security Blanket," "Leaf-Peepers"),...even an amazing column from King's college newspaper ("The Subject This Week is Cops")! The Essential Stephen King provides uncompromising summation and review of King's work by an acknowledged King authority. It is a must for both the serious and casual fan. Book jacket.