Novelist Stephen King has written an essay available only for the Amazon Kindle, the company announced Friday.
Titled "Guns," has an estimated length of 25 pages and is available for download for 99 cents.
“I think the issue of an America awash in guns is one every citizen has to think about,” King said in a prepared statement. “If this helps provoke constructive debate, I’ve done my job. Once I finished writing ‘Guns’ I wanted it published quickly, and Kindle Singles provided an excellent fit.”
King, who is both a gun owner and an advocate of gun control, said all proceeds from sales of the essay will go to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
"There are a handful of subjects in America so emotional and polarizing that the national dialogue around them amounts to little more than a shouting match. Chief among these is the subject of guns," according to the Amazon.com description. "In this intimate and moving Kindle Single, Stephen King employs all his gifts as writer and citizen to address gun violence in America. But why should we care what Stephen King has to say? As it turns out, there are a number of reasons. Despite his 'liberal creds,' King is an unapologetic gun owner himself. He is also the author of a novel - published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman - that has served as a 'possible accelerant' for at least four real-life high school shooters. King had his publisher take that book off the market long ago, but the guns and the occasional bursts of unfathomable violence remain. When division is everywhere, is it possible for someone to argue passionately for the middle road? That is what King seeks to do here - this is a frank and thoughtful contribution to a dialogue in dire need of voices from the 'all-but-deserted middle.'"
The 123 who, as of Saturday, had claimed to have read it have given the essay a rating of 3.7 of a possible 5.
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