Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (37 page)

Morality (2009) 

Morality
first appeared in the July 2009 edition of
Esquire
magazine. It seemed to attract little attention, even in the King community but in 2010 it was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette (whatever that strange beast a novelette might be). Initial publicity surrounded the cover of the magazine, which showed words from the story printed in shoe polish on the naked body of female model Bar Refaeli!  

In the tale a married couple is presented with a moral dilemma. Chad and Nora Callahan are struggling on his substitute teacher salary (when he has work) and her income from home nursing the Reverend George Winston. Meanwhile the bills are piling up and Chad has the opportunity to complete a book of stories that just might get them out from under their creditors and off to a new life in Vermont. As well as nursing Winston, a stroke victim, Nora also acts as his secretary, physical therapist and masseuse. Out of the blue the patient offers Nora $200,000 but of course this is not without strings. 

The Reverend has led a good life, free of any major sin, and has now determined to “commit a major sin before I die. A sin not of thought or word but of deed … I could sin by proxy. In fact, I could double my sin quotient, as it were, by making you my accessory,” he tells Nora. 

Of course, the author strings out both the dilemma for our heroine and her would-be writer husband, and doesn’t expose the Reverend’s actual requirement until well into the story, building reader interest. However, it is perhaps fair to say there is something just a little lacking, at least compared to the usual King – the feeling is more of “drift” than ratcheting up the tension.  

What the Reverend requires is for Nora to go to a playground and punch a child, while Chad records the events on camera. After much debate the crime, or “sin” as Winston would have it, is agreed by Nora; and she proceeds to act out the deed. Readers may expect her to back out at the last minute, or be caught, or even confess to the police (as Chad thought might happen) but she gets away scot free. And after watching the video the two have sex, during which Nora demands Chad hit her. He does, spilling blood. 

The next day Nora shows Winston the video, takes her money, and quits the job on the spot. Creepily, Winston tells Nora the second time they’d run the tape, he’d watched her and not the screen. He wonders, “…is feeling dirty always a bad thing?”  

As time progresses the price to be paid, for there almost always is one, is an unraveling of the Callahan marriage – first through escalating but apparently mutually exciting violence during sex; then Nora makes love to another man, demanding he hit her during the act (he declines, “What kind of crazy lady are you?”). They move to Vermont shortly after Winston apparently commits suicide but not before Chad declines any more violence in the bedroom. When Chad’s book sells, but for a low advance, Nora taunts him and he breaks her nose; then tells her he’s leaving the marriage, the whole sordid episode having tainted both their relationship and his writing. And there the tale largely ends. 

It is mildly interesting to speculate why King chose the surname Callahan for Chad and Nora, considering the importance of the Reverend Donald Callahan (‘
Salem’s Lot
,
The Dark Tower
) in his canon, but no clear conclusion can be drawn. 

Rather obviously this is a tale of
morality
; but King also captures the feeling of “ordinary” – how simple events might happen and how lives might unwind as a result of fateful decisions. King, of course, is a highly
moral
writer and this tale can be safely filed in that section of his work but perhaps without being dusted off and read too often. 

Morality
was also published in the mass market version of Blockade Billy, published in May 2010, and that may be the easiest form of access for readers ahead of the inevitable inclusion in the next King collection. 

The New Lieutenant’s Rap (1999) 

The New Lieutenant’s Rap
has a unique history. Printed as a chapbook from King’s own imprint, Philtrum Press, the entire text is in King’s handwriting. It was provided to guests at the 6 April 1999 New York City party at the Tavern on the Green to celebrate King’s 25th anniversary in book publishing. Marsha DeFilippo, King’s assistant, confirmed that copies were left at the party by guests who clearly did not know what they were leaving behind! In total only 500 copies were printed, with up to 150 distributed at the party. 

The front and rear covers simply show a hand drawn peace sign. King’s introduction to the chapbook reads: 

“The New Lieutenant’s Rap” is from Hearts in Atlantis, to be published by Scribner’s in the fall of 1999. This version, which differs considerably from the one which will appear in the book (it’s longer, for one thing), is offered as a little keepsake – my way of marking twenty-five fruitful (a little too fruitful, some critics would say) years as a novelist and freelance writer. It is limited to no more than 500 copies, each of which has been signed by me and numbered or lettered by Michael Alpert, who has so brilliantly executed all the Philtrum Press books, from The Plant to The Ideal Genuine Man. The printing is my own. So are the mistakes and scratch-outs. 

I hope what follows makes you as uncomfortable as it does me. 

Stephen King 

This America Under Siege story has never been published in the mass market and most likely will not be. As King states, it is effectively a version of
Why We’re In Vietnam
, which appeared in
Hearts in Atlantis
later that year. It was substantially revised for that appearance and those with a strong interest in King’s prose and its development should try to secure a copy of this story. It is as great a pleasure to read a story in King’s handwriting as it is to listen to his audio readings. A certain amount of character is added to the story when reading the handwritten version and one is amazed by the neatness of King’s penmanship. 

Copies are rarely offered for sale. Photocopies also circulate in limited numbers in the King community. 

As one of the
Hearts in Atlantis
stories it includes characters that appear in other stories from the group. These are John L. (“Sully-John”) Sullivan, who also appears in
Low Men in Yellow Coats
,
Blind Willie
(
Hearts in Atlantis
version only),
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
and
Hearts in Atlantis
; and is the key character in
Why We’re In Vietnam
; and Dieffenbaker, who also appears in
Why We’re in Vietnam
and
Blind Willie
(
Hearts In Atlantis
version only). 

In the story two Vietnam vets talk at another veteran’s funeral. Dieffenbaker had been the new lieutenant when John Sullivan served in Vietnam. They met again for the first time in a couple of years and talked after attending Dick Pagano’s funeral. They remembered and discussed many of the things that happened during the War but Dieffenbaker, now a bald computer salesman, appeared to be extremely negative. He reminded Sullivan of the things their generation had created, from video games to crack cocaine, but most were mentioned in a negative or sarcastic way. Dieffenbaker finally apologized to Sullivan for the way he had spoken, and they parted. 

Once reading, we are quickly into the story. As Dieffenbaker and Sully stand outside the funeral parlor, smoking, Sully remembered the day in Dong Ha Province when “…old
mamasan
died. That day he had been shit scared. They had all been shit scared.” Sully recalled that Dieffenbaker, the “new lieutenant,” had stood tall that day and  

…given the order that needed giving. Sully thought if it had come down to him, Clemson and Malenfant and those other fuckheads would have killed until their ammo ran out – wasn’t that pretty much what the men under Calley and Medina had done? But Dieffenbaker was no William Calley, give him that. Dieffenbaker had given the nod. Slocum nodded back, then raised his rifle – goddam, I say goddam – and blew off the back of Ralph Clemson’s head. 

For those old enough to remember the trauma of the Vietnam War era, one of the defining memories is the My Lai massacre and its aftermath. In just one paragraph King recalls the tragedy and the trauma while instantly making readers consider the impact one battlefield officer’s choices can have. The instant shock of understanding that a US soldier had killed another gets the story moving at pace. 

As they talk Dieffenbaker’s cynicism emerges but it is Sully who asks the question that presages the title under which the story appears in
Hearts
: “‘Why were we in Vietnam to begin with?’ Sully asked. ‘Not to get all philosophical or anything, but have you ever figured that out?’” 

Then, shortly, “‘Fuckin yeah, it matters,’ Dieffenbaker said. ‘Because we never got out. We never got out of the green. Our generation died over there.’” He then argues that their generation, “…those of us who ran north to Toronto, those of us who marched and protested …” and even those who simply stayed home, had achieved little of value since that time. What they had done was to become a generation of watchers, selling out their beliefs
–
a rather heavy slap on their generation’s first President’s sexual peccadilloes is also delivered – “…our generation is a joke.” 

Deef (and he hates that nickname) reminds Sully that “…there was a time when it was all in our hands.” This sets Sully to remembering Carol Gerber, not the Carol of college or peace-marches; but the time they and Bobby (Garfield) had gone to Savin Rock Amusement Park in 1960. “It
had
been in their hands then; he was quite sure of it. But kids lose everything, kids have slippery fingers and holes in their pockets and they lose everything.” 

Dieffenbaker continues, postulating that they are still really in Vietnam, and that all that appeared to have occurred in their lives since was just part of a “pot-bubble” and that Vietnam is/was in fact the better of the realities. Realizing his bitterness Dieffenbaker then apologizes (if apparently half-heartedly) to Sully as he prepares to leave and they now “…looked at each other across the years – it felt like years, not space” and Sully thought, “…It’s still klicks instead of miles and Dieffenbaker is still the new lieutenant. We stay because it’s better. He’s right. We stay.”  

The story, presumably King’s partial take on his own generation’s past and present dilemmas, is entirely set outside the funeral home in which Dick Pagano lay (dead of pancreatic cancer) but really the story is of Vietnam and the lasting impact on Sully, Deef and their entire generation. We know from
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
that it is the summer of 1999, as in that story John Sullivan died of a heart attack while returning home from Pagano’s funeral. 

The
Hearts in Atlantis
stories 

Hearts in Atlantis
is a five-story collection, first published in 1999. There are autobiographical overtones (and undertones) in some of these stories. For instance,
Low Men in Yellow Coats
recalls a short period of King’s childhood, when he and his family lived in Stratford, Connecticut (re-cast as Harwich for this story). The
Hearts in Atlantis
story draws directly from King’s past, considering he was studying at the University of Maine at Orono during the same time setting. 

The stories are loosely linked by certain characters and by the Vietnam War era. In order of their presentation in the collection they are:
Low Men in Yellow Coats, Hearts in Atlantis, Blind Willie, Why We’re in Vietnam
and
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
. 

What is not well known to most fans is that a number of these stories also appear in differing versions. 

Low Men in Yellow Coats
is an original Dark Tower story, first appearing in the collection. However, an excerpt was published in
Family Circle
for 3 August 1999. There are very minor wording variations in that publication. 

Blind Willie
was first published in the literary magazine,
Antaeus
for Autumn 1994 and then republished in King’s
Six Stories
collection with quite a number of minor changes. King then completely rewrote the story for its appearance in
Hearts in Atlantis
so as to fit the story line of the collection. Bill Teale became Bill Shearman (one of those who beat up Carol Gerber) and instead of Blind Willie Teale, Shearman posed as Blind Willie Garfield (he still had Bobby Garfield’s glove, which he used when begging). 

Why We’re in Vietnam
is a substantial revision of
The New Lieutenant’s Rap
, given out as a chapbook earlier in 1999. 

Only
Hearts in Atlantis
itself and
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
have not been revised in any way. 

The movie version of
Hearts in Atlantis
, a much under-rated and warm-hearted adaptation, is actually mainly of
Low Men in Yellow Coats
(the
Hearts in Atlantis
storyline does not appear in the movie) and of
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
. The screenplay was by William Goldman (
Misery
,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
) and the Director was Scott Hicks. Anthony Hopkins played Ted Brautigan, Anton Yelchin the Young Bobby Garfield, with David Morse (
The Green Mile
) the adult Bobby.