Maine horror novelist Stephen King, who put his foot in it last month when he falsely criticized conservative Charlie Kirk, is calling it quits, at least temporarily.
King told USA Today in an “exclusive” interview he’s afraid of “becoming a bore,” although one leading critic recently suggested that’s already occurred.
“I’m trying to clear my desk as much as I can,” King said. “At my age, you’re off the warranty. You can’t take anything for granted.”
King wants to take some time off “while I’m still healthy,” he told the paper. “You can’t guarantee anything once you get past the age of 75, 76. So you’ve got to be a little bit careful. Anything can happen to anybody.
“I got hit by a car while I was in my prime, so to speak. I might have another 10, 15 years, but you can’t count on it, that’s all.”
USA Today’s Brian Truitt, who interviewed the iconic and controversial author, downplayed King’s break, writing “Don’t worry, folks, King’s not retiring tomorrow. As he says, ‘I’m a busy guy.””
However, the storied Maine author admitted he’d “like to stop before I start to drivel. Like, repeat myself. I feel like I’ve still got a little more space to explore, but I have to watch out and not become a bore. I hate that idea, of being a boring person. I’d like to still surprise people a little bit.”
King did exactly that recently when he criticized Kirk, an outspoken conservative, after he was assassinated.
The liberal author, who is a mega-donor to Democrats in Maine and nationally, claimed that Kirk once called for stoning gay people to death.
The Bangor writer later apologized for going overboard but at least one critic thought King may actually be going senile.
Or, in King’s reference, beyond his prime.
In UK-based magazine The Spectator, Alexander Larman suggested that King has actually overextended his warranty.
