The only drawback, call it the fly in the ointment (or the fatal flaw, if you want to be hifalutin), is that the execution has never—no, not one single time—been as splendid as the original concept. The only two times I even came close to getting it all were in two prison stories: The Green Mile and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” All the others fell short of what I wanted for them. Even with long novels such as It, The Stand, and Under the Dome, I finished with the sense that a better writer would have done a better job. Still, on measure I’m proud of what I’ve done. And I’m proud
...more
