He makes a living producing what it is he turns out. He can do better, and seems to me he has from time to time.

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What heartens me: he's made a good penny on his works. And he turns a lot of this over to the arts. Among other programs, the program "Selected Shorts" (Saturday evenings on KQED FM, San Francisco), which lists him as a sponsor. I'm trying to remember if any of his "serious" fiction's been included, or if he's actually read for the show.

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Remember too that popular != bad. Both Dickens and Twain were tremendously popular in their day, and closer to King's genre we have Lovecraft. The key isn't the learnedness of the writing -- the work is decided accessible -- it's the craft of telling a story in straightforward language, yet still evoking imagery, interest, and an entertaining yarn. Look for example at the Grimm tales -- not sophisticated, often (particularly in their original forms) quite bloody, but tremendously accessible.

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There are many far worse picks.