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View Full Version : New short story in Harper's (09/12): "Batman and Robin Have an Altercation"



herbertwest
08-20-2012, 07:46 AM
From Liljas :

In the September issue of Harper’s King has written something called Batman and Robin in an Altercation. I’m not sure if this is fiction or nonfiction but I’m sure we’ll find out very soon.

http://www.liljas-library.com/img/other/harpers2012.jpg

you ever seen a ghost?
08-20-2012, 08:03 AM
this is a fiction piece.

-justin

mae
08-20-2012, 08:12 AM
Woohoo! :excited:

mae
08-20-2012, 08:19 AM
This , I think, is King's first ever piece for this publication. One comment over at Lilja's says "It's a short story about a man with Alzheimer's, his adult son, and an unexpected event on the highway. It's quite short."

jhanic
08-20-2012, 08:32 AM
Is the issue out on the stands now?

John

Bev Vincent
08-20-2012, 09:04 AM
Copies are for sale on eBay, so I guess so.

you ever seen a ghost?
08-20-2012, 09:18 AM
yeah, but the copy i saw has an address sticker. don't subscribers usually get mags a couple days/one week before newsstands?

-justin

mae
08-20-2012, 09:33 AM
My local B&N still has the August issue, bummer.

you ever seen a ghost?
08-20-2012, 10:07 AM
probably the end of this week then.

-justin

mae
08-20-2012, 01:55 PM
Another comment from Lilja's: "It's 4 pages. It's King writing in a more "realistic" vein. Quite poignant at times, with an end that's disturbing, amusing, and unexpected all at once. Not a major story by any means, but a welcome way to spend 15-20 minutes reading." Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really love King's recent realistic and literary stories such as "Premium Harmony" and "Herman Wouk is Still Alive". I hope King writes more of them.

skyofcrack
08-21-2012, 04:07 AM
I asked at B&N and they said the August issue came out 7/24 and the monthly mags come in on Tuesdays & Thursdays so probably this Thursday (in the afternoon) for the Sept issue.

mae
08-22-2012, 06:29 AM
Official synopsis from Harper's, courtesy of Ms. Mod at the official forums:

http://www.stephenking.com/forums/showthread.php/26323-2-New-Stephen-King-Stories/page2?

In Stephen King’s first story for Harper’s Magazine, a middle-aged man named Sanderson brings his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father to Applebee’s for their weekly lunch, where for three years they have ordered the same food and had the same conversation. Just as Sanderson despairs of finding any shred of the man who raised him, he’s saved from a brutal assault to find his father wielding a weapon procured in a moment of lucidity.

WeDealInLead
08-22-2012, 07:51 AM
Is this a business magazine?

mae
08-22-2012, 08:15 AM
Is this a business magazine?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Magazine

mystima
08-22-2012, 06:29 PM
sounds like a story to go along with Lunch at the Gotham Cafe

Bev Vincent
08-23-2012, 02:03 AM
This one is set in San Antonio, which is a switch for King.

mae
08-23-2012, 07:06 AM
This one is set in San Antonio, which is a switch for King.

Must be from his 11/22/63 research trips.

Bev Vincent
08-23-2012, 07:09 AM
I don't think he got that far from Dallas. Maybe he visited an Applebee's!

mae
08-23-2012, 07:10 AM
Incidentally, when I visited Dallas a few years back, I drove down to San Antonio, too :)

mae
08-23-2012, 08:16 AM
Got my copy at my B&N so it's definitely on newsstands now.

mae
08-23-2012, 11:58 AM
http://harpers.org/archive/2012/09/0084063

skyofcrack
08-23-2012, 05:29 PM
http://i508.photobucket.com/albums/s323/skyofcrack/sk_limiteds/100_2253.jpg

TwistedNadine
08-23-2012, 06:12 PM
Any comments on the story?

mae
08-24-2012, 01:49 PM
Any comments on the story?

I liked it a lot. It was short, just four and a half pages, but it's very well written (of course), and there is a small twist that I again didn't see coming that I really thought was an excellent conclusion. Very similar in tone to "Herman Wouk" I thought.

Ricky
08-24-2012, 02:13 PM
How much is the magazine if you just buy this issue?

mae
08-24-2012, 02:52 PM
$6.99.

Dan
08-24-2012, 02:54 PM
My Barnes and Noble still has last months issue.

WeDealInLead
08-24-2012, 05:25 PM
It was alright.

TwistedNadine
08-25-2012, 11:39 AM
It was alright.

Maybe King has someone close to him with the disease and this was his stress reliever

Ben Mears
08-25-2012, 12:41 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really love King's recent realistic and literary stories such as "Premium Harmony" and "Herman Wouk is Still Alive". I hope King writes more of them.

I agree. It would be interesting to see him finish out his career with a three or four book non- horror series focusing on a small town. Kind of like his wife Tabby did with her Nodd's Ridge books. In the epilogue of Second Coming (the first draft and original title of 'Salem's Lot) it is mentioned that Ben Mears went on to write the National Book Award winining novel The Hollow about "...a small Maine town named Durham, and told of a savage, mythic power struggle between a local lawyer and a mill owner/real estate agent." I would love to read something like that from SK.

ELazansky
08-25-2012, 02:10 PM
My Barnes and Noble still has last months issue.

My B&N had one copy left today, which I bought.

Merlin1958
08-26-2012, 01:44 PM
Where can you buy this issue? B&N looked at me crosseyed!!!

mae
08-26-2012, 02:38 PM
I got mine at my local B&N. It should probably be shelved with other literary magazines.

jhanic
08-26-2012, 03:20 PM
I got mine at Barnes & Noble a couple hours ago. They had a goodly supply.

John

Merlin1958
08-26-2012, 03:41 PM
It was quite the fiasco, but I finally found some one at B&N with half a brain. They have not recvd the latest issue yet, but should have them by Tuesday. They kept telling me I wanted Harper's Bazaar!!!! LOL LOL LOL

mae
08-26-2012, 04:53 PM
It really is a great story, now that I've had a couple of days to think it over and digest. Probably one of my favorites now. It's just slice of life, so real and raw.

WeDealInLead
08-27-2012, 05:52 AM
I liked its rawness too especially when they're taking about that neighbour lady his dad was "seeing" and then his son's thoughts about it. I'll re-read it soon. I think my initial disappointment was with how short the story was. I paid $9 CAN for roughly 9 minutes of reading.

mae
08-27-2012, 06:15 AM
Well there are other articles in the magazine.

WeDealInLead
08-27-2012, 06:57 AM
They won't make the story longer.

A comment as obvious as yours.

mae
08-27-2012, 07:21 AM
I know you bought the magazine solely for King's story, so did I, but it has more than that one story, so it's not technically just 9 minutes worth of reading, if you wanted to. It's a quality magazine.

Randall Flagg
08-27-2012, 02:42 PM
They won't make the story longer.

A comment as obvious as yours.
Awfully pithy lately. I would agree that ~$6 for a short story is expensive, but the magazine usually has an other pieces/writing that are valuable.
If one wanted to save the money, they could patiently wait and it would likely be included in a a new King collection-probably 15+ stories for ~$28.

idlewarnings
08-28-2012, 05:06 PM
I read it for free at the library. Not a good story, IMO. I feel like I got my money's worth.

mae
08-30-2012, 07:04 AM
I read it for free at the library. Not a good story, IMO. I feel like I got my money's worth.

To each their own, of course. I felt it was a very poignant story. And speaking of the magazine itself, I really liked another pieces in it, War Dogs, an excerpt from a memoir. Exceptional.

biomieg
09-09-2012, 12:00 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really love King's recent realistic and literary stories such as "Premium Harmony" and "Herman Wouk is Still Alive". I hope King writes more of them.

Agreed!

Merlin1958
09-09-2012, 06:29 PM
Well, as it happens, I have an extra copy of this no one wanted. So, maybe I'll just read the story and give it to the HF. Sounds like it may be a good read!!! Thanks guys!!!

If anyone wants it, PM me fast!!! It's free to TDT.Org members!!! Pay it forward and all.

Ari_Racing
09-17-2012, 03:38 PM
Oh..I was just going to post that if anyone has a spare I'd like to buy it. :)

Brice
09-17-2012, 05:21 PM
I just got my copy today thanks to TwistedNadine. :D

TwistedNadine
09-19-2012, 07:29 AM
I just got my copy today thanks to TwistedNadine. :D

My pleasure - glad it arrived safe

Brice
09-19-2012, 10:26 AM
Are you kidding? It was wrapped so well nothing could have hurt it. LOL

TwistedNadine
09-19-2012, 11:37 AM
I learned from Tippy's packaging (and all the damaged books Ive received from sellers who dont give a crap)

jhanic
09-19-2012, 12:42 PM
Are you kidding? It was wrapped so well nothing could have hurt it. LOL

Don't say that! The Post Office can destroy ANYTHING!! :tongue:

John

Brice
09-19-2012, 02:55 PM
This package would survive armageddon. I've almost got it open now. LOL

mae
05-03-2013, 07:57 AM
http://www.magazine.org/about-asme/pressroom/asme-press-releases/asme/national-magazine-awards-2013-winners-announced

The winners of the 2013 National Magazine Awards were announced tonight at the annual awards presentation at the New York Marriott Marquis. New York was named Magazine of the Year. The Atlantic, New York and Texas Monthly each won two awards; National Geographic won four, including two for digital media. Two digital-only publications also won awards: Pitchfork for General Excellence, Digital Media, and Slate for Columns and Commentary.

“Tonight showed the growing power of Magazine Media not only in print but online and on tablets,” said Sid Holt, chief executive of the American Society of Magazine Editors. “Whether it was Pamela Colloff’s extraordinary article ‘The Innocent Man’ for Texas Monthly or the election-changing video ‘Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser’ for Mother Jones, these are the kinds of stories only magazines can tell.”

Known as the Ellies, for the Alexander Calder stabile “Elephant” given to each winner, the 2013 awards gala was attended by 600 magazine editors and publishers and was hosted by Willie Geist, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and NBC’s “Today.” Allison Williams, star of the HBO series “Girls,” also joined Lucy Danziger, the editor in chief of SELF and president of ASME, to present a General Excellence Award to Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue.

Sixty-two magazines were honored as finalists, and 18 magazines won awards. Writers and photographers whose work received National Magazine Awards included Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic in Essays and Criticism; Chris Heath for GQ in Reporting; Steven Klein for W in Feature Photography; Dahlia Lithwick for Slate in Columns and Commentary; and Mimi Swartz for Texas Monthly in Public Interest. Stephen King’s “Batman and Robin Have an Altercation,” published by Harper’s Magazine, won in Fiction—the second time one of his stories has received a National Magazine Award.

The evening was highlighted by the presentation of the Creative Excellence Award to two legends of magazine design, Milton Glaser and Walter Bernard, for their unique and enduring contributions to American journalism. Glaser and Bernard were introduced by journalist and playwright Michael Kramer and were interviewed on video by Ken Auletta, media critic for The New Yorker.

Established in 1966, the National Magazine Awards are sponsored by ASME in association with the Columbia Journalism School. Nearly 260 publications entered the National Magazine Awards this year, submitting 1,636 entries. The judges included 330 magazine editors, art directors and photography editors as well as journalism educators.

CRinVA
05-03-2013, 08:55 AM
Very Cool!

mae
05-03-2013, 10:42 AM
One of my favorite stories of King's.

jhanic
05-03-2013, 12:19 PM
Neat!

John

herbertwest
05-03-2013, 01:11 PM
"Stephen King’s “Batman and Robin Have an Altercation,” published by Harper’s Magazine, won in Fiction—the second time one of his stories has received a National Magazine Award."

Does that mean that it's the second time that a story by King get a National Magazine Award, or Harper? I dont have note of King winning another of this award?

mae
05-03-2013, 01:12 PM
It was "Rest Stop" in 2004.

herbertwest
05-03-2013, 11:41 PM
thanks !