Stephen King is in the news. His Finders Keepers (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), which just appeared in print, is destined to be read on many a beach this summer. But I just came across an interview with the famous author in which he carelessly admitted that he had never read Jane Austen. Ouch! “I do not say this with either pride or shame (or prejudice, for that matter),” he added. “It’s just a fact.” My heart went to him at once. His admission is sure to cost him dearly. For both pride and prejudice are rife with readers, and especially those enamored with his own writing: contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Ouch, again! As for me, he is pretty safe, for I have never read Stephen King. And I do not say this with shame, either.