5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Almost everything you need to know about Dean Koontz, February 12, 2001
This review is from: Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography (Paperback)
If you're looking for a reference work on Dean Koontz, look no further. Ms. Ramsland has written the biography that all others will be judged by. It is loaded with information, and is not a dry read like so many other biographies. It was a valuable tool for me when I was creating my Dean Koontz website as it contains contains chronological listings of all of Koontz's works, almost all of his pseudonyms, and a year-by-year breakdown of highlights in his career. Whether you're tracking down information for a school report or a newspaper article or just searching for more about the life of one of America's most prolific writers, then this book is for you.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!, June 30, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography (Paperback)
As a fan of Dean Koontz, I was looking forward to reading his biography. It was interesting to me to find out what influenced his writing, and seeing that didn't take away the magic in his books. If anything, it made me want to read them again for things I might have missed the first time! Warning: She does "give away" some of the endings of his books, but if you come across one you haven't read, then skip that section for now and go back to it after you read that particular story--duh... A great addition to any library. I will read this again!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended for fans of Koontz' work, April 26, 2005
This review is from: Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography (Paperback)
Although Koontz and his family and friends cooperated with Ramsland during her research into his life and career, Ramsland has also used tools employed by other biographers studying the lives of writers who are very private people, such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers: Ramsland includes much study of Koontz' work, analyzed in terms of revealing truths about the author.
In short, many of Koontz' novels are discussed in some detail in this biography of their creator, which provides an interesting layer of frosting upon going back and re-reading them. Ramsland has a degree in clinical psychology rather than literature, so her analyses tend to be in terms of characters and how they incorporate elements of real people in Koontz's life rather than in terms of, say, literary symbolism. Ramsland does provide some of that, though; Koontz *did* study literary technique, for one thing, and in addition uses some quirks of his characters' behaviour to reflect aspects of their characters, so that symbolism often dovetails with Ramsland's psychological approach.
(Before laughing this off as boring - how many times have you asked yourself, "What *is* it with this man and basements/clowns/snow, anyway?")
This biography therefore includes massive spoilers for most of Koontz' novels up to FEAR NOTHING.
Some tidbits:
COLD FIRE
Ironheart's hometown is based loosely on Koontz'.
STRANGE HIGHWAYS
The Shannon house is a copy of Koontz' childhood home, and Joey is a nightmare version of Koontz himself (Joey having taken the wrong road in his twenties, dropped out of college, and failed to pursue his dream of becoming a writer). In real life, the house bordered the fairgrounds, which led Koontz to learn about carnivals.
THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT
Colin is a self-portrait of the author; Heather is based on Koontz' wife, Gerda.
TWILIGHT EYES
One character's background reflects the town where Koontz had his first teaching job.
Ramsland's approach to Koontz's work isn't pedantically dry, and in fact meshes well with his particular style; in creating books such as WHISPERS, he himself deliberately incorporated a lot of personal research into aberrant psychology to make some of his more frightening characters as realistic as possible. (His approach to characterization changed over the years, though.)
Not that Ramsland restricts herself to analyzing Koontz' work; she incorporates discussion of it when it helps illustrate aspects of his life, rather than restricting herself to discussing the stories in chronological sequence. Koontz has real-life experience of coping with people with frightening depths; Ramsland provides a great deal of illumination of his relationship with his family, particularly his smooth-talking alcoholic father. (TWILIGHT EYES-style, Ramsland includes periodic descriptions of what was going on in the world at various points, for perspective.)
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