"The Bizaar of Bad Dreams" by Stephen King.

[AngryOldDem]

8. Some hits, some misses.

Typical of King at this point. And I don't think it's a matter of an established, aging author "phoning it in" (although I have accused King of doing that at times) -- I think he just has so many stories in his repertoire that he wants to get as many as he can out there before time truly passes him by. (I think most if not all of these were all published earlier.)

The only story I think I truly enjoyed -- because of its construction and point of view -- was "Drunken Fireworks". The voice, the characterization, was classic King, IMO. The rest, with a few exceptions, were meh. It was a pretty quick read for me, and when I finished, I didn't feel as though I had wasted my time (unlike with some other books lately), but I wasn't blown away, either. But King has other, better collections, for sure.

I can't say I'm much of a fan of his poetry, though.

I do like his commitment to the short story. I'll give him that, at least.