Give That Girl a (Book) Jacket
Posted by: Daniel Kraus
We all know Stephen King wrote The Body, but this is probably the first time he’s written on a body. The July issue of Esquire features a new story by King, “Morality,” the first few lines of which have been lovingly painted across the bod of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli. The story is about a writer struggling in an economic recession and the lengths he is willing to go for financial solvency. Not sure how Israeli supermodels work into the plot, but let’s just assume they do.
Since I know none of you will be able to put down your Pynchon long enough to view the NSFW-ish slide show of the, uh, transcribing process, let me skip to the most humorous part of the account, where Esquire calls in editor Ross McCammon to proofread:
“I had to read her three times because the first read was a wash–I felt disoriented, I wasn’t used to the medium, I was rapt by King’s wordsmithing. So the real work began on the second and third passes. As I scanned each line, reading the words out loud, checking for trouble spots (afterward, not afterwards, for instance), Refaeli slowly–but all too perceptibly–moved her body according to whatever I needed to get a good look at. Which was distracting, but I thank her for it.”
Ah, such is the life of an editor. Back to work.
June 5th, 2009 at 3:46 am
[...] “Give that girl a (book) jacket”: [...]
June 11th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Ok, seriously — has anyone every been “rapt by Stephen King’s wordsmithing”? I think we can all respect his prolific production, his ability to tap into some collective unconscious, etc. But “rapt” might go a little too far…
June 15th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
My guess is that it depends upon the medium in which (or upon which) you’re reading….