Discussion groups will wish to explore the parallels between Desperation and its companion, The Regulators. Since the two are really a single work, we suggest reading the article on The Regulators in this encyclopedia. If you are one of King's "constant readers," how do you think his conception of good and evil has developed from his first novel, Carrie, to the present? Why has King become a household name, while other horror writers have not?

1. King has become increasingly selfreferential. Besides the complex network of parallels shared with its companion, The Regulators, Desperation alludes to several other King works. Recounting the story of the Chinese miners buried alive in the 1850s, Billingsley states that mine may have caved in because the digging "made the tommyknockers mad." This is a reference to King's 1987 novel by that name.

Cynthia Smith, the gutsy waif with orange and green hair...