Biblio File
Who's the King of Ohio?
Stephen King mobilized the Twitter armies on Wednesday with a single question:
Serious question here: Other than the one about Winesburg, by Sherwood Anderson, has anyone ever written a great novel about Ohio?
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 11, 2016
He got a flurry of responses from authors like Jodi Picoult and journalist James Fallows, and an avalanche from regular Twitter users who were quick to point out their favorite Buckeye State books.
A few responses from Twitter are below, but first, here are three of our own Ohio-centric recommendations. (It's tough to say whether a book is truly about Ohio or any particular place, really, but all three of these novels feel like they couldn't possibly take place anywhere else.)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Morrison set her first novel in her own real-life hometown of Lorain, Ohio. A tragic story of incest, rape, and heartbreak, the novel uses flashbacks to show Lorain both before and after the Great Depression.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
An immigrant family from China brings an outsider perspective to a small Ohio town, which stands at the forefront of this novel about identity and loss.
Songs for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan
Residents of Kingsville, Ohio, comb every inch of their small town looking for a missing 18-year-old girl. Kingsville is scrutinized, from its woods to its houses to the gas station where Kim worked, and the novel is as much an examination of life in Ohio as it is a missing-person story.
Honorable mention: The Odds by Stewart O’Nan
OK, so this O'Nan book is really about escaping Ohio. But when the middle-aged couple at the center of the book runs away to Niagara Falls, their life in Ohio follows them like a third character nipping at their heels.
@StephenKing During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase
— misha (@ahsimlibrarian) February 11, 2016
@StephenKing Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner. A love song to Cleveland. On my shelf next to Hearts in Atlantis.
— The Olde Hippie (@theoldehippie) February 11, 2016
@StephenKing Yes. It's called: BELOVED
— Demerree (@demerree) February 11, 2016
@StephenKing ONE FOR SORROW by Christopher Barzak is a fine ghost story set in Youngstown.
— Matthew Cheney (@melikhovo) February 11, 2016
@stephenking The Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey take place in Ohio and are brilliant.
— Rebecca Escamilla (@ivynova) February 11, 2016
@armsaloft @StephenKing Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and Deadeye Dick both set in fictional Midland City, OH.
— Katie Jane (@kj_zurda) February 11, 2016
And a bunch of people tweaked the bestselling author by calling out one of his own books, published under his "Richard Bachman" pseudonym:
@StephenKing Well, “The Regulators” takes place in Ohio.
— Robert A. Petersen (@Sonikku_a) February 11, 2016
Don’t know of that Richard Bachman guy is any good though ;-)
Disclaimer: We don't know these Twitter users! Their inclusion in this post is based solely on their book recommendations.
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Comments
Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the
Submitted by Lauren Lampasone on February 12, 2016 - 10:40am
Thsnks Stephen King
Submitted by Kathleen Garcia... (not verified) on February 13, 2016 - 5:15pm