Wednesday, October 26, 2016

New Book: Night Shift by Stephen King

A few weeks ago, I finished reading Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar, which, in case you're sense or something, is Sammy Hagar's autobiography.  I thought it was really good.  I didn't know much about Hagar's life, other than his time with Van Halen and the fact that he likes tequila.  Turns out, he overcame a rough childhood, with an abusive, alcoholic father, and basically just worked his ass off to make it big, first in the '70s as the lead singer of Montrose, then as a solo artist, then as the lead singer of Van Halen, and then again as a solo artist, before making a few albums with the supergroup Chickenfoot.  What I found most interesting was his non-musical successes.  He got in early on the mountain bike craze, and had a really successful bike shop in Sausalito in the late '80s/early '90s.  Then, he started going to Cabo San Lucas when it was still pretty unknown, and he fell in love with it and opened Cabo Wabo Cantina, thereafter making his own successful brand of craft tequila, Cabo Wabo (which is really good), which he sold for $91 million.  He also has a restaurant chain called Sammy's Beach Bar & Grill, the profits from which he donates to charities.  Hagar has always seemed like a guy I'd like to sit down and have a beer (or tequila) with, and this book just confirmed that.

 Since then, it being October and all, I started reading Night Shift by Stephen King, King's first collection of short stories, published in 1978.  I'm a big Stephen King fan and have been for almost 30 years, yet I've never read any of his short story collections.  I think people are generally familiar with King's novels and the film or TV adaptations of them -- like Carrie, The Shining, It, Misery, and The Green Mile, to name a few -- but maybe not as cognizant of the fact that so many of King's short stories or novellas have been adapted for film or TV, like Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil.  There are at least six major motion pictures based on short stories in Night Shift alone -- 1984's Children of the Corn (not to mention its various sequels), 1985's Cat's Eye, 1986's Maximum Overdrive, 1990's Graveyard Shift, 1992's The Lawnmower Man, and 1995's The Manger -- along with four made-for-TV movies, including 1991's Sometimes They Come Back, which I definitely remember watching and being terrified of.  So far, Night Shift has been a good read for this Halloween season.

 Books read in 2016:
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