The King book that is most readily brought to mind by “Under the Dome” isn’t an earlier large-scale apocalyptic fantasy like “It” or “The Stand” it’s “On Writing,” the instructive autobiographical gem that cast light on how Mr. King’s decisions about how to tell this story are of special interest. The premise provides so many options that Mr. King, who can manipulate this crisis in any way that occurs to him, becomes a kid in a candy store.
Once the Dome falls, all vestiges of normal life are suspended. On a beautiful autumn day in Maine a transparent dome materializes over the town of Chester’s Mill. It also has a premise that can be summarized in seconds. Though the book’s broad conspiratorial strokes become farfetched, its ordinary souls become ever more able to break hearts. Even its broad caricatures prompt real emotion, if only via the damage they can inflict on others. It dispenses with his usual scatology and trippy fantasy to deliver a spectrum of credible people with real family ties, health crises, self-destructive habits and political passions. King’s particular patch of American turf is located smack in the middle of the Twilight Zone. It has the scope and flavor of literary Americana, even if Mr. “Under the Dome” gravely threatens Stephen King’s status as a mere chart-busting pop cultural phenomenon.
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