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In a 1999 library conference in Vermont, King said: \u201cI can\u2019t say for sure that Michael Carneal had read my novel Rage, but news stories following the incident reported that a copy of it had been found in his locker. It seems likely to me that he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cRage had been mentioned in at least one other school shooting\u2026 The Carneal incident was enough for me. I asked my publisher to take the damned thing out of print. They concurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
By then, at least three other hostage situations – in California, Kentucky and South Dakota – related to teenagers who held classrooms at gunpoint had associations with Rage, with many of the shooters reportedly re-reading the story repeatedly.<\/p>\n
The novel\u2019s main character, troubled teenager Charlie Decker, had likely resonated deeply with some of the perpetrators.<\/p>\n
Faced with the aftermath of one of his earliest works, King then had to reflect on whether the piece of fiction was at least partially responsible for the incidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cDo I think that Rage may have provoked Carneal, or any other badly adjusted young person, to resort to the gun? It\u2019s an important question\u2026 The answer is troubling, but it needs to be faced: in some cases, yes. Probably it does.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to say how difficult it was to face that a piece of art can become \u201can accelerant on a troubled mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne cannot divorce the presence of my book in that kid\u2019s locker from what he did,\u201d he said, even drawing comparisons with how serial killer Ted Bundy fuelled his violent fantasies by consuming graphic material.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo argue free speech in the face of such an obvious linkage\u2026 seems to me immoral,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThat such stories will exist no matter what – that they will be obtainable under the counter if not over it – begs the question. The point is that I don\u2019t want to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I knew what had happened,\u201d he explained, \u201cI pulled the ejection-seat lever on that particular piece of work. I withdrew Rage, and I did it with relief rather than regret.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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