為什麼有這份書單？#
每當史蒂芬·金（Stephen King）演講談寫作時，問答時間總有人問同一個問題：「你都讀些什麼？」
他坦承這個問題會讓他的腦袋當機。最簡單的答案——「我讀任何能拿到手的東西」——雖然真實，但沒什麼幫助。
這份書單列出他在寫作《The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon》、《Hearts in Atlantis》、《On Writing》以及未出版的《From a Buick Eight》這三、四年期間，讀到的最好的書。 金懷疑這些書多多少少都影響了他自己的作品。
給讀者的提醒#
「請記得，我不是 Oprah，這也不是我的讀書俱樂部。」 這些只是「對我有效」的書。 你可能從中發現新的工作方式；即使沒有，它們至少能讓你享受閱讀。
書單#
A#
- Abrahams, Peter: A Perfect Crime
- Abrahams, Peter: Lights Out
- Abrahams, Peter: Pressure Drop
- Abrahams, Peter: Revolution #9
- Agee, James: A Death in the Family
B#
- Bakis, Kirsten: Lives of the Monster Dogs
- Barker, Pat: Regeneration
- Barker, Pat: The Eye in the Door
- Barker, Pat: The Ghost Road
- Bausch, Richard: In the Night Season
- Blauner, Peter: The Intruder
- Bowles, Paul: The Sheltering Sky
- Boyle, T. Coraghessan: The Tortilla Curtain
- Bryson, Bill: A Walk in the Woods
- Buckley, Christopher: Thank You for Smoking
C#
- Carver, Raymond: Where I’m Calling From
- Chabon, Michael: Werewolves in Their Youth
- Chorlton, Windsor: Latitude Zero
- Connelly, Michael: The Poet
- Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
- Constantine, K. C.: Family Values
D#
- DeLillo, Don: Underworld
- DeMille, Nelson: Cathedral
- DeMille, Nelson: The Gold Coast
- Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist
- Dobyns, Stephen: Common Carnage
- Dobyns, Stephen: The Church of Dead Girls
- Doyle, Roddy: The Woman Who Walked into Doors
E - F#
- Elkin, Stanley: The Dick Gibson Show
- Faulkner, William: As I Lay Dying
G#
- Garland, Alex: The Beach
- George, Elizabeth: Deception on His Mind
- Gerritsen, Tess: Gravity
- Golding, William: Lord of the Flies
- Gray, Muriel: Furnace
- Greene, Graham: A Gun for Sale（又名 This Gun for Hire）
- Greene, Graham: Our Man in Havana
H#
- Halberstam, David: The Fifties
- Hamill, Pete: Why Sinatra Matters
- Harris, Thomas: Hannibal
- Haruf, Kent: Plainsong
- Hoeg, Peter: Smilla’s Sense of Snow
- Hunter, Stephen: Dirty White Boys
I - J#
- Ignatius, David: A Firing Offense
- Irving, John: A Widow for One Year
- Joyce, Graham: The Tooth Fairy
- Judd, Alan: The Devil’s Own Work
K#
- Kahn, Roger: Good Enough to Dream
- Karr, Mary: The Liars’ Club
- Ketchum, Jack: Right to Life
- King, Tabitha: Survivor
- King, Tabitha: The Sky in the Water（未出版）
- Kingsolver, Barbara: The Poisonwood Bible
- Krakauer, Jon: Into Thin Air
L#
- Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Lefkowitz, Bernard: Our Guys
- Little, Bentley: The Ignored
M#
- Maclean, Norman: A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
- Maugham, W. Somerset: The Moon and Sixpence
- McCarthy, Cormac: Cities of the Plain
- McCarthy, Cormac: The Crossing
- McCourt, Frank: Angela’s Ashes
- McDermott, Alice: Charming Billy
- McDevitt, Jack: Ancient Shores
- McEwan, Ian: Enduring Love
- McEwan, Ian: The Cement Garden
- McMurtry, Larry: Dead Man’s Walk
- McMurtry, Larry, and Diana Ossana: Zeke and Ned
- Miller, Walter M.: A Canticle for Leibowitz
O#
- Oates, Joyce Carol: Zombie
- O’Brien, Tim: In the Lake of the Woods
- O’Nan, Stewart: The Speed Queen
- Ondaatje, Michael: The English Patient
P#
- Patterson, Richard North: No Safe Place
- Price, Richard: Freedomland
- Proulx, Annie: Close Range: Wyoming Stories
- Proulx, Annie: The Shipping News
Q - R#
- Quindlen, Anna: One True Thing
- Rendell, Ruth: A Sight for Sore Eyes
- Robinson, Frank M.: Waiting
- Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Russo, Richard: Mohawk
S#
- Schwartz, John Burnham: Reservation Road
- Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy
- Shaw, Irwin: The Young Lions
- Slotkin, Richard: The Crater
- Smith, Dinitia: The Illusionist
- Spencer, Scott: Men in Black
- Stegner, Wallace: Joe Hill
T - W#
- Tartt, Donna: The Secret History
- Tyler, Anne: A Patchwork Planet
- Vonnegut, Kurt: Hocus Pocus
- Waugh, Evelyn: Brideshead Revisited
- Westlake, Donald E.: The Ax
怎麼用這份書單？#
不必把每本都讀過。可以這樣使用：
- 找你已經喜歡的類型作家，從那裡切入
- 注意金推薦同一作者的多本書（如 Peter Abrahams、Pat Barker、Cormac McCarthy、J. K. Rowling）——往往代表他特別欣賞那位作者的整體手法
- 有些是「一定要讀的經典」（《Lord of the Flies》、《Heart of Darkness》、《As I Lay Dying》、《To Kill a Mockingbird》、《Oliver Twist》）
- 有些是當代敘事與對話的範本（Elmore Leonard 雖未列入，金在前文多次稱讚；McMurtry 是對話標籤的典範）
這份書單呼應全書最重要的「大誡命」： 「想當作家，必須多讀，多寫**。沒有捷徑。」**